Merced, Golden Valley, El Capitan soccer eliminated from playoffs
It was a rough start to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs for local girls soccer teams as Merced, Golden Valley and El Capitan all were knocked out of the postseason on Tuesday afternoon.
The No. 14 seed Bears (10-12-3) lost 1-0 to No. 3 Granite Bay in Division II. After a scoreless first half, the Grizzlies got on the board in the 50th minute when Hannah Bonfils scored on a pass from Aleah Treiterer.
Golden Valley saw why Bella Vista (15-4) was seeded No. 2 in Division II. The Broncos raced out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first half and cruised to a 10-1 win over the No. 15 Cougars (14-4-6). Megan Williams and Sophia Carni led the Broncos with two goals each.
Megan Pust scored Golden Valley’s lone goal on an assist by Jaylin Meza. Cougars goalie Kristina Manilay had seven saves.
In Division III, No. 2 Rio Americano defeated No. 15 El Capitan 6-0. The Gauchos finished the season with an 11-9-1 record.
Three other local teams will begin their postseason today. In Division V, No. 8 Delhi opens at No. 1 Amador at 6:30 p.m. Seventh-seeded Hilmar will play at No. 2 Capitan Christian. In Division VI, No. 7 Mariposa will play No. 2 Arognaut at 6:30 p.m.
Baseball
Merced 11, Atwater 0 in Atwater – Josh May went 4 for 4 with a double, triple and six RBIs to lead the Bears (17-10, 9-6 Central California Conference) to a three-game sweep of the Falcons. Pitman, however, clinched the final CCC playoff spot by beating Golden Valley.
Tim Zaragoza and Jacob Alarcon each had two hits for Merced, with Zaragoza driving in two runs and Alarcon scoring three times.
May also struck out 10 hitters to pick up the win.
Pitman 10, Golden Valley 1 in Merced – Four Pitman pichers combined on a two-hitter, with Caleb Lopez and Brady Mello getting hits for the Cougars (4-22, 3-12 CCC). Matt Carrigg had three hits, including two doubles, and scored three times for Pitman (18-9, 10-5).
Turlock 2, Buhach Colony 1 in Turlock – Blaine Weber went the distance on the mound, scattering seven hits and striking out seven as the Bulldogs (17-10, 13-2 CCC) finished off a three-game sweep of the Thunder (13-14, 10-5).
Brandon Booz had two hits and scored a run for Turlock.
Kory Woods drove in Buhach Colony’s lone run. Nick Singer and Christian Witt each had two hits for the Thunder.
El Capitan 14, Ceres 0 in Ceres – Chase Whitaker pitched a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts for the Gauchos. He also went 3 for 3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Mark Sellers tripled and drove in three runs for El Capitan (19-6, 11-1 Western Athletic Conference).
Patterson 11, Livingston 1 in Patterson – Alec Espos had two hits and drove in three runs as the Tigers (19-6-1, 9-3 WAC) wrapped up the conference’s No. 2 playoff seed.
Dos Palos 14, Mendota 0 in Mendota – Carlos Lara doubled twice and drove in three runs to lead the Broncos (11-11-2, 8-2 West Sierra League). Gabriel Galindo and Rolando Flores each had three hits for Dos Palos. Josh Ramirez threw a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts.
This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Merced, Golden Valley, El Capitan soccer eliminated from playoffs."