Drama-filled baseball semifinals send Stanislaus teams to championships
The Sac-Joaquin Section baseball semifinals are over and championship matchups are set, but there was a lot of local action worth noting.
Central Catholic and Ripon Christian were outstanding in the clutch. Both lost semifinal series openers and won two straight with their backs against the wall. A matchup between two Stanislaus District teams highlighted one small-school division and one Trans-Valley League school had its hopes of a semifinals upset fall short. Fortunately for them, they knocked off a No. 1 seed on their playoff push.
Section finals begin Wednesday and finish Saturday for all seven divisions. Championship sites are Cosumnes River College, San Joaquin Delta College and Sacramento City College.
Here is how local teams did in the semifinals.
Central Catholic wins last 2 vs. upset-minded Del Campo
Central Catholic dug itself into a one-game hole after dropping the series opener to Del Campo, which was coming in riding a high. The No. 11-seed Cougars upset No. 6 Oakdale and No. 3 Placer in the Division IV bracket, earning a spot in the semifinals.
The Raiders sputtered out of the gate, scoring just two runs in Game 1. Del Campo won the game 9-2 and capped the game with momentum, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning. After the game, Raiders coach Danny Ayala challenged his team.
“All these guys have experience,” Ayala said postgame. “We’ve been on playoff runs and that’s a benefit to us. Can we be disciplined? Can they put it together?”
The team answered the challenge in Games 2 and 3, invoking the 10-run rule in both.
In Thursday’s Game 2, Kayden McHenry pitched a five-inning gem, allowing just one run. Chase Perino and Joe Farinha drove in six runs and Central Catholic extended the series with an 11-1 win.
The winner-take-all Game 3 started rough for Raiders on Friday. They fell behind 3-1 but scored four runs in the bottom of the third and eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to earn a 13-3 win. Broden Thomas had three hits with a double and two RBI and Max Medina had a double with two RBI. Four Raiders had extra base hits and four had a multi-RBI game.
The Raiders are playing in their fourth straight section championship game. They take on Roseville, the Division’s No. 1 seed Saturday at 10 a.m. They won in an extra-innings thriller in 2023 when Adrian Garcia provided the walk-off single. They also won the NorCal title that season over Oakmont. In 2024 they lost section and NorCal title games to Oakmont. Senior infielder Broden Thomas has been there for all four. He was a junior varsity postseason call-up as a freshman in 2023, joining his older brother Braxton, and was a varsity team member for title runs in 2024, 2025 and now 2026.
Ripon Christian wins last 2 vs. Placer
Playoff experience is prevalent on the Ripon Christian roster, so it is no surprise that the Knights were unaffected by dropping Game 1 at home last Tuesday. The top seed in Division VI dropped Game 1 10-4 but responded with their backs against the wall.
In Game 2 they put together solid innings all game, opening the contest with two runs in the top of the first and scoring once in the second, fourth, sixth and seventh innings. They gave up just one fourth-inning run in the 6-1 win. Sophomore Trenton Cloward earned the complete game, striking out six batters and giving up just six hits. He also was one of two players with multiple hits. He and Noah De Bruyn had two and Stadtler Postma went 3-for-3 and added a walk. Four other Knights added one base hit. Postma, De Bruyn and Maxx Anderson all hit home runs and Jackson Howell added a double.
Ripon Christian went into Friday’s Game 3 with momentum. Howell went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs and five other Knights tallied an RBI in a 10-2 series-clinching win.
The Knights will be the designated home team on Saturday in their section championship matchup against the No. 2 seed in Division VI, Amador, at 10 a.m. at Delta College.
Big Valley and Turlock Christian battle for 2 games
A pair of Stanislaus District teams battled in last week’s Division VII semifinals with a trip to face the No. 1 team on the line. Turlock Christian had home-field advantage through the first three postseason rounds. The No. 2 seed in the bracket won 28-0 in the first round and 7-6 in the quarterfinals. No. 6 Big Valley Christian had a 19-0 win in a first-round home game then upset the No. 3 Delta Saints 12-3 in the quarterfinals.
Turlock Christian was impressive in last week’s semifinals, sweeping the Lions 9-4 in Game 1 and 14-1 in Game 2.
The semifinals matchups were the third and fourth times the two sides played this season. In early March they played a two-game series on back-to-back days with Big Valley Christian winning the first game 12-6 and Turlock Christian taking Game 2, 10-5.
Top seed Vacaville Christian had a first-round bye, beat No. 9 Millennium in the quarterfinals and swept No. 5 Valley Christian in the semifinals. The Eagles and Falcons play Saturday at 1 p.m. at Delta College.
Escalon’s Cinderella run comes to an end against Wheatland
Don’t count out teams from the Trans-Valley League. That’s what Escalon made clear with a postseason run that included upsetting the No. 1 team in Division V and keeping it close in Game 1 of the semifinals series against No. 5 Wheatland.
The bracket was full of upsets. In the first round, No. 10 Destiny Christian won over No. 7 Ripon and No. 13 Marysville beat No. 4 Woodland Christian.
After winning their first=round game over No. 9 Casa Roble, the No. 8 Cougars hit the road and pulled off arguably the biggest win of this year’s tournament, regardless of division. Visiting the No. 1 team, Lincoln of Lincoln, Escalon took an early lead, scoring four runs in the second inning and allowing just two. With the 4-2 lead, the Cougars allowed two additional runs in the bottom of the fifth. With the game tied in the top of the sixth inning, Logan Huebner drove in Ben Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly for the run that ended up winning the game. Junior Brody Abbott pitched the complete game and struck out nine batters. Dylan Ball had two hits with a triple and two RBI, Huebner drove in two runs and Andrew Armosino drove in a run.
The Cougars advanced to the semifinals where they ran into a gritty, talented Wheatland. The No. 5 Pirates swept the semifinals series, winning Game 1 3-1 and the second matchup 10-0.
Sac-Joaquin Section Baseball Championships
Division I
Location: Sacramento City College
Friday, May 22 at 6 p.m.
No. 1 St. Mary’s (26-6) vs No. 3 Franklin (22-8-1)
Division II
Thursday, May 21 at 6 p.m.
Location: Sacramento City College
No. 1 Elk Grove (26-6) vs No. 3 Rodriguez (24-7)
Division III
Location: Sacramento City College
Wednesday, May 20 at 6 p.m.
No. 1 Rio Americano (26-6) vs No. 7 El Capitan (25-7)
Division IV
Location: Cosumnes River College
Saturday, May 23 at 10 a.m.
No. 1 Roseville (26-4) vs No. 2 Central Catholic (24-7)
Division V
Location: Cosumnes River College
Saturday, May 23 at 1 p.m.
No. 2 Woodland (26-5) vs No. 5 Wheatland (23-8)
Division VI
Location: Delta College
Saturday, May 23 at 10 a.m.
No. 1 Ripon Christian (28-3) vs No. 2 Amador (24-5-1)
Division VII
Location: Delta College
Saturday, May 23 at 1 p.m.
No. 1 Vacaville Christian (18-4) vs No. 2 Turlock Christian (17-3)
This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 2:30 PM.
