Granada opens NCS D1 playoffs with win over San Ramon Valley
LIVERMORE — Granada’s quest for its second consecutive North Coast Section Division I title got off to a positive start on Tuesday after the top-seeded Matadors notched a 5-2 first-round win over San Ramon Valley.
The Livermore school totaled just three hits through the first three innings, but a four-run fifth inning sealed the win for Granada as it advanced to the second round. The Matadors will host Casa Grande on Friday after the Petaluma school defeated Dublin 5-0 in its first round game.
Alex Piscotty, cousin of former Oakland A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty, struck out seven and gave up no earned runs across six innings. Adrian Zambrano knocked in two runs for Granada while Chase Nadeau and Estevan Duarte each had an RBI.
SRV (15-11) was an unusual No. 16 seed given its history of success in the NCS playoffs and its strength of schedule this season.
The Matadors knew they had to bring their A-Game.
“We didn’t consider them an underdog,” Zambrano said. “We took them as they were the second seed. We battled and we just didn’t care how good they were. It took a couple of innings to get into that game, but once we did, it was game over.”
The game was scoreless through the first three innings with both offenses struggling to find a rhythm. In the first each of the first four innings, SRV’s lead-off hitter was able to reach base, but the Wolves struggled to bring home runners when they were in scoring position.
All it took for Granada to get going was one play.
With two outs and runners on first and third, SRV threw a wild pitch that allowed senior Carlos Hernandez to score to put the first run on the board for Granada.
In the fifth, the Matadors put the game away for good.
With the bases loaded and Estevan Duarte at the plate, SRV walked the senior on five pitches, which brought home Tommy Brown. In the next at-bat, Chase Nadeau’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Peyton Richards. Later in the inning, Zambrano knocked in Mikey Boyd and Duarte to give the Matadors a five-run lead going into the sixth.
“When Carlos got that score, it hyped our dugout up a lot,” Brown said. “From then on, we just wanted to keep the pressure on them.”
SRV made things interesting in the top of the seventh. The Wolves got their first three batters on base with Piscotty out of the game, and scored two runs to cut the Granada lead to three. But after Granada coach Corrigan Willis brought in reliever Mason Ravera to close the game, Granada cruised to the second round with a 5-2 victory.
The Matadors are aiming to make history as the first public school to win back-to-back NCS Division I titles. The last time a public school won consecutive NCS titles was when Campolindo won four straight from 2010 to 2013 in Division II.
“The biggest key will be to play as a team,” Piscotty said. “If one person goes down, the next guy has to be there to step in.”
Granada coach not happy with late starts
Willis was blunt when talking about how he felt about having all NCS playoff games start at 5 p.m.
“I’m not surprised with NCS anymore when it comes to this stuff,” Willis said. “You would think there wouldn’t be 5 p.m. games anymore after the NCS finals last year. The games should be at 4:30 p.m. at the latest. You see how much it affects the game when it’s late, so I’m not sure why we do the 5 p.m. starts.”
Last year’s Division I championship game between Granada and De La Salle had a 5 p.m. start at Monte Vista – a field without lights. The game was halted in the 10th inning because of darkness and had to be continued the next day.
Granada eventually won the NCS title in 13 innings in a game that spanned across two days, two fields, two cities and two counties.