To the championship: Central Catholic sweeps No. 1 Oakmont, earns spot in D-III final
The glove throw, the yell, the chest bumps. Kayden McHenry’s emotion said it all.
The Raiders had done what most people at the beginning of the season thought they couldn’t: They punched their ticket to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship.
It wasn’t just that they secured a spot in the program’s third straight championship game, though. It was whom they beat to do it. Ranked the No. 5 team in D-III, Central Catholic upset the division’s top seed, Oakmont, winning two straight games in the best-of-three series.
“My emotions poured out,” McHenry said. “It’s just crazy how hard we’ve worked, how much we’ve been doubted. To come to this spot with that same team we just played and get the job done in two games, it’s just amazing.”
While it’s not quite a rivalry, the two sides have history. In the 2023 postseason, Central Catholic beat Oakmont to win the Division III Northern California Regional title. Last season, they met twice in the playoffs, with Oakmont winning section and NorCal titles at the Raiders’ expense. While most of the players on this year’s team were not full-time varsity players in the previous two years, they knew what they were playing for.
Some of the players who were called up to varsity for last year’s playoff run reignited last season’s team playoff group chat, letting last year’s seniors know they were playing for them. The resounding message: “Go get it done.”
“We finally knocked them off and helped out the guys from last year who had to lose to them twice,” said junior Jacob Kiesel.
McHenry’s emotion was understandable.
He struck out the final two batters in the Raiders’ 3-1 win over the Vikings, sending them back to the title game, as part of a complete game effort with four total strikeouts. He allowed just four hits and walked three batters.
McHenry and the Raiders’ defense held a 25-win Oakmont side — ranked 30th in the state and that scored 15 runs in the postseason — to just two runs over two games. Caine Walker and AJ Miligi allowed just six hits and one run between them in Monday’s 3-1 win and McHenry followed that up with arguably his most rewarding pitching performance of the season to close out the series sweep.
McHenry pitched his fifth seven-inning game. He is 5-0 in those games.
“I always want to go the whole game for my guys,” he said. “Obviously, we rely on our defense the whole time and the team played outstanding. … That’s just tough baseball. We want to come out and play that every single time.”
Kiesel has worked and worked, changing positions from infield to catcher, improving his offense and mentality all in the past year. This postseason, it has shown.
The junior had a double and two RBI in his first-ever playoff game and followed it up with another double during the quarterfinals. In Game 1 of the semifinals series, he went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Wednesday in the series-clinching Game 2, he decided the game.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with two runners on, one out and the game tied at 1-1, Kiesel drove a pitch down the right field line that landed just fair for a double. Both runners, Levi Zalinski, who was pinch running for McHenry who singles, and Chase Perino, who walked, came around to score. Kiesel advanced to third on a bad throw home.
“I just tried to get a job done, get something to the right side and it stayed fair,” he said. “It felt awesome coming through for the guys.”
Kiesel always liked playing second base or third base, so becoming the team’s full-time backstop was “pretty difficult at first.” He focused on it all summer, fall and winter and received coaching from Fernando Alaniz, the team’s starting catcher for the two seasons prior. By the time spring came, he was ready to shine. He continued to improve behind the plate, and now, he said, playing the position is normal.
“He’s worked really, really hard,” head coach Danny Ayala said. “He’s just in one of those zones right now and he’s one of those kids who’s tough as nails with ice in his veins when it’s a big moment. He just put the catcher’s gear on for us last year for the first time and he worked hard and this is all of it. This is all from that hard work.”
The Raiders will play for their third straight blue banner Wednesday, May 21, at 6 p.m. at a location tol be determined in the coming days. Their opponent, No. 3 Yuba City, swept No. 2 West Park 13-1, 12-4 on the other side of the bracket.
Ayala said if the team continues to stick together and play good baseball, it has a chance to beat anybody. The Raiders’ last three playoff games have all ended in 3-1 scores, proving they have what it takes to pull out close games with their season on the line.
They will enjoy the semifinals series victories, of course, but they’ll quickly re-focus on their goal.
“It felt awesome,” Kiesel said, “but it doesn’t mean a thing if we don’t win sections.”
Baseball Semifinals
Division IV
No. 3 Roseville 2, No. 2 Oakdale 1 (9): The Mustangs could not avoid a second semifinal playoff loss in their three-game set against Roseville. Georgia commit Landon Schutte earned the start on the mound and gave up five hits, just one run and struck out six. Fresno State-bound Jordan Haver came on in relief and allowed a run and struck out four. Roseville scored in the fourth and the Mustangs answered with their season on the line after Bas Stice singled, scoring Gavin Wyatt from third base in the top of the seventh inning. The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth, when Roseville ended the game with a walk-off sacrifice fly.
Division V
No. 3 Wheatland 7, No. 2 Hughson 3: Hughson could not secure the semifinals sweep Wednesday on the road, so hosted No. 3 Wheatland on Thursday at home. Hughson scored twice in the third but the Pirates answered with a seven-run bottom of the fourth. Hughson could only answer with one run in the fifth. Carlos Guizar hit his third home run this postseason. Andrew Fisher and Bryce McDaniel also drove in runs.
Softball first round
Division I
No. 1 Del Oro 11, No. 16 Turlock 1: Turlock was the only CCAL school to score a run in the Division I playoffs on an RBI single in the top of the first by Karley Wool. Abby Maxwell recorded a team-high two hits and Cadee Campbell also had a hit for the Bulldogs. After Turlock scored the game’s first run, Del Oro scored 11 straight to finish the contest in five innings.
No. 3 Tracy 10, No. 14 Gregori 0: Gregori fell in five innings to the Division’s No. 3 team. Junior Angelina Hoffman led the Jaguars with two hits and sophomore Kaliyah Mauia had the team’s other hit.
No. 6 Franklin 6, No. 11 Enochs 0: Makayla Alailima went 2-for-3 and Daniella Barba and Camila Ramirez Quintana each added a single in the first-round playoff loss. The Eagles finished the regular season as CCAL champions with a perfect league record.
Division III
No. 1 Central Catholic 18, No. 16 Johnson 0: Central Catholic’s offense was firing on all cylinders in its playoff opener. Sacramento State commit Madie Harrison and Carsyn Lomeli hit home runs, Samantha Nichols tripled twice and doubled, Arizona State signee Jazmarie Roberts doubled twice, UNLV signee Taryn Calderon, Paige Perry and Brooklyn Nicholls each doubled once. Harrison drove in a game-high five runs and three others recorded multiple RBI. The Raiders host No. 8 Vista del Lago on Friday in a rematch of the 2022 section title game.
No. 5 Oakdale 7, No. 12 Bear Creek 0: University of the Pacific signee Jaelyn Lee pitched seven shutout innings, allowed just two hits and struck out 11 batters. On offense, she hit a three-run home run, had a single and walked twice. Reese Donaldson and Briley Everett also recorded two hits. Jayci Volonte drove in a pair of runs. Oakdale takes on a familiar foe in Friday’s second-round matchup, traveling to VOL member Manteca. The Mustangs and Buffaloes split in their two regular-season meetings.
No. 6 Merced 5, No. 11 Patterson 1: The Tigers could bring only one runner across in the top of the sixth, driven in by Elizabeth Zavala, who doubled in the game. Three other players recorded hits for Patterson, two drew walks and two reached on errors.
Division IV
No. 13 Los Banos 10, No. 4 Ceres 8: Eight runs were not enough to send Ceres into the second round. The Bulldogs led 7-6 after five innings, but Los Banos scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to take control of the game. Ceres could answer with only one run in the bottom half of the inning.
No. 7 Beyer 3, No. 10 Twelve Bridges 0: Utah State-bound Jordyn Lish pitched a playoff shutout Wednesday. She gave up just one hit and struck out six batters. The game was knotted at 0-0 until Lily Robinson doubled in the fifth, scoring Destiny Pitts. Audrina Urias homered in the bottom of the sixth with Lish on first base, adding two insurance runs. Lish and the Patriots travel to No. 2 Pioneer Friday for their second-round matchup.
Division V
No. 8 Hughson 4, No. 9 Ben Holt College Prep 3: Hughson won its first-round playoff game without recording an extra base hit. Emma Carne, Grace Leedom and Madison Collins each finished with one RBI and sophomore pitcher Kylie Tangney went the full seven innings and struck out a playoff career high 13 batters. The Huskies travel to No. 1 Casa Roble on Friday for a second-round matchup.
No. 6 Ripon 11, No. 11 Woodland Christian 1: TVL champion Ripon led just 2-1 through five and a half innings, but exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the run rule win. Izabelle Spurzem hit a home run and had three RBI, Angelina Martinez drove in two runs and four players finished with one RBI. Ripon travels to Livingston to take on the No. 3 Wolves, a former TVL foe.
No. 7 Calaveras 6, No. 10 Orestimba 2: Orestimba saw its season end Wednesday. The Warriors allowed four runs in the second inning but could combat that with only two runs in the fourth. Calaveras added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Division VI
No. 5 Hilmar 8, No. 12 Summerville 7 (8): Hilmar needed an extra frame to advance in the D-VI playoffs Wednesday. After a 1-1 tie, both teams scored three runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Hilmar didn’t give up a run in the top of the eighth, then loaded the bases in the bottom half with three straight singles and no outs. Emma Gomes drove in the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly. The Yellowjackets will welcome another home game in the second round after their opponent, No. 13 Colfax, upset No. 4 Amador Wednesday.
No. 6 Big Valley Christian 8, No. 11 Stone Ridge Christian 7: Senior Cecily Fontana and junior Kailey Rivera each drove in two runs. Fontana doubled and Rivera homered. Madyx Mitchell pitched the full seven innings and struck out eight batters. Big Valley went into the final inning trailing by a run, but Ella Alavezos tied the game and Macie Stevens walked it off with a single. The Lions hit the road Friday as they will travel to No. 3 Buckingham Charter.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 10:48 AM.
