St. Francis High will need some help if it wishes to capture the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title.
Senior pitcher Chase Watkins tossed a complete-game one-hitter with nine strikeouts, but the Sharks offense mustered up only one hit in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to league-leading Santa Cruz High.
The Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo bound lefty lowered his earned run average this season to 2.44, but St. Francis couldn’t even the season series with the Cardinals, who entered Thursday’s SCCAL action with a perfect 7-0 record.
Senior first baseman Josh Kovacs recorded the lone hit off of Santa Cruz junior pitcher Clayton Ray, who also limited the Sharks to one hit during their first meeting earlier this season.
Santa Cruz scored the game’s lone run in the first inning and Ray did the rest.
St. Francis had the tying run on third and the game-winning run on first in the seventh inning, but couldn’t bring them home.
The loss dropped the Sharks into a tie for third place with Soquel High. The teams played the first game of a back-to-back on Thursday — the results of that game were not known before print — and are set to play the second game today at Soquel at 4 p.m.
Here is a look at the rest of the baseball action from the week:
WATSONVILLE STOPPED
The Watsonville High Wildcatz suffered their first Monterey Bay League Pacific division loss since mid-March on Wednesday night in a 9-4 defeat against streaking Seaside High.
Max Ramirez took the loss, which snapped Watsonville’s (9-7, 9-4) seven game win streak against league opponents.
The win was Seaside’s (11-11, 8-6) sixth straight.
Ryan Rivera had three hits for the Wildcatz, who play at Alisal High today at 4 p.m.
Heading into the final stretch of their MBL-P season, the Wildcatz sit in second place behind Alisal (13-6, 11-2).
On Monday, Watsonville beat North Salinas High, 11-7, behind Gio Gonzalez’s six-inning performance on the mound and a 16-hit day from its bats.
Rivera, Jason Garza, James Flota and Dylan Vargas all had three hits for Watsonville, which still has a shot to capture its first league title since 2015, but will need some help.
PLAYOFF HOPES FADING
Monte Vista Christian dropped to last place in the MBL-Gabilan division with Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to Monterey High.
With four games left in the regular season, M.V.C. will have to win out to give itself a chance at the league’s fifth and final Central Coast Section playoff spot.
M.V.C. junior pitcher Marshall Silva tossed six solid innings, but four unearned runs sunk his chances of securing the win. He scattered six hits and walked only one.
Monterey scored four runs in the sixth inning to pull away.
LAINE SIGNS
M.V.C. senior outfielder Garret Laine signed his letter of intent with NCAA Division II Fresno Pacific on Wednesday.
A standout two-sport athlete, Laine leads M.V.C. in hits (28), home runs (3), triples (1) and batting average (.384) this season, and has hit streaks of 11 and, as of Wednesday, nine games.
Senior infielder Cody Paresa also signed his letter of intent on Wednesday. He penned his commitment to NCAA Division III Chapman University for football. A 5-foot-10, 185-pound running back for the Mustangs, Paresa ran for more than 1,200 yards and scored nine touchdowns in the fall.
CONDORS REBOUND
After dropping an 11-10 heartbreaker on Monday, North Monterey County High bounced back on Wednesday with a 10-2 win over Pajaro Valley High behind Wyatt Ramos’ 3-for-4 day.
Ramos had a double, a triple, two RBIs and two scored runs. Zion Lopez was 2-for-3.
N.M.C. (6-10, 5-8) plays at Alvarez High today at 4 p.m.
MURPHY KEEPS HITTING
Senior catcher Will Murphy continued his solid final season on Tuesday by hitting a double, scoring a run and driving in a teammate in Aptos High’s 3-2 win over Harbor High.
Senior infielder David Reckers was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a scored run, while also earning a walk.
Sophomore Jacob Mendoza went 6 and 2-3 innings, allowing seven hits, an earned run and a walk, for the win. He had six strikeouts.
Aptos, which entering Thursday was in second place in the SCCAL at 5-1, looks to be on a collision course with Santa Cruz High. The two play on Tuesday in Santa Cruz at 4 p.m.
LINE OF THE WEEK (April 19-25)
N.M.C.’s junior outfielder Wyatt Ramos was 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and two scored runs in the Condors’ 10-2 MBL-P win over Pajaro Valley.
GAME OF THE WEEK (April 27-March 3)
Aptos at Santa Cruz, May 1, 4 p.m. — Santa Cruz has its eyes set on clinching the SCCAL championship in the coming weeks. A win over second-place Aptos can speed up that process.
The Mariners lost the first meeting against the Cardinals, 6-2, on March 16.
