Escalon is last local team standing, holding on for historic NorCal road victory
Three teams entered this year’s CIF Northern California Regional Playoffs with hopes of being the last one in the region standing in its division. All played on the road.
In Division II, the Central Catholic softball team traveled to San Jose, and in Division IV, the Escalon softball team competed in its first-ever NorCal Regional. Turlock Christian was the only local baseball team to qualify for the regional tournament, competing in the Division V bracket.
After the dust settled Tuesday afternoon, just one team remained as two others fell in their single-elimination contests.
The Regional postseason continues Thursday with the semifinals at 4 p.m. The NorCal Final is Saturday, June 6.
Escalon escapes with one-run win in first-ever NorCal game
There was no layoff rust for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V champion Cougars on Tuesday as they continued their historic season with a 6-5 win in the softball program’s first-ever NorCal Regional playoff game.
University of Arizona-bound senior Madison Babasa led off the game with a walk and advanced to second when UC Riverside commit Arianna Velasco walked. Babasa stole third and freshman Tenley Adams drove her in with a sacrifice fly. The Cougars took a 4-0 lead in the third. Babasa walked and Kyla Holback singled, then Velasco tripled, driving in both. Velasco scored later in the inning.
For the second time in three games, the No. 5 Cougars had to hold off a comeback. No. 4 seed Alhambra scored twice in the bottom of the third, cutting the lead in half. Then Escalon scored twice in the fifth after an Adams two-run home run. The Bulldogs scored once with no outs and twice with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. But on the mound, Adams forced a groundout to Babasa at third base for the final out.
Adams struck out six batters and gave up five hits in the complete game effort. The five Bulldog runs were all unearned. Offensively, Adams drove in a game-high three runs and Velasco added two RBI. Lauryn Siegel collected a pair of hits and five other Cougars each added a hit apiece.
The Cougars travel to Cottonwood on Thursday to play the top seed, West Valley, at 4 p.m.
Central Catholic’s season ends with narrow road loss in San Jose
Close to a week and a half after claiming its first CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title, the Central Catholic softball team hit the road, playing Willow Glen in San Jose.
The Raiders, who won the D-IV section title, were bumped up to D-II and given the No. 6 seed, traveling to play the No. 3 Rams. Paige Perry had two hits while Florida commit Samantha Nichols and Brooklyn Marquez each doubled. Ceriah Fitzhugh started the game with a walk and stole second, but the Raiders could not bring her home.
In the bottom of the first, Willow Glen scored all four of its runs in the 4-1 win. After that, freshman starter Sophia Santillan settled in, finishing by giving up five hits, four earned runs and five walks with a strikeout. The Raiders scored in the top of the second. With one out, Perry singled, then stole second. Marquez doubled to center field, scoring Perry, but that was all Central Catholic could get home.
Central Catholic’s season ends at 23-9 overall, the fifth straight season with at least 20 wins. It went a perfect 12-0 in Valley Oak League play, claiming an undefeated league title for the second straight season and the third time in four years. Central Catholic has claimed four of the last five league titles with their three most recent being outright championships.
The Raiders return almost all of their starting playoff lineup. The starting nine had just three seniors and five of the team’s top six hitters are either freshmen, sophomores or juniors.
Turock Christian walked off in thriller
No one scored for the first six innings as No. 5 Turlock Christian visited No. 4 Roosevelt of Fresno on Tuesday for a Division V showdown.
Through six innings, Turlock Christian tallied four hits and Roosevelt had five, but no runs came home. In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles gave up a single and allowed the runner to advance to second with a steal. With two outs, the Roughriders scored a run on an RBI single to seal the 1-0 win and send them into the Regional Semifinal.
Turlock Christian’s Jakobe Garcia doubled in the first and singled in the sixth, Cam Kelly doubled in the fourth and Blake Starn singled in the fifth. Kelly pitched the full game, going 6.2 innings, striking out three and the one run he allowed was earned. Xamuel Cerrato pitched seven innings for Roosevelt, earning the postseason shutout with six strikeouts and allowing just four hits.
Turlock Christian’s season ends with an 18-4 overall record. The Eagles finished 7-1 in Central California Athletic Alliance play, good for first place. They claimed the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII blue banner.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 7:50 PM.
