Baseball, track and field highlight NCS spring sports post-season competitions
CONCORD, CA (May 18, 2023) — League champions De La Salle and Clayton Valley Charter baseball teams are placed at and near the top of the North Coast Section baseball playoff seedings as action gets underway this week.
The Spartans will seek their six successive Section title as the top seed with the Ugly Eagles, who have also been among the top-ranked Bay Area teams all season, are third seed in a strong Division I field.
De La Salle track and field won last weekend’s Tri-Valley Area Championships boys division in Pleasanton as the top performers now head for the NCS Meet of Champions this Friday and Saturday in Dublin and the CIF State Meet the following weekend in Clovis.
Versatile Chukwunonso Udeh won the 110 hurdles, high jump and long jump at the Tri-Valley Meet as he continued a strong senior season. He also was part of the Spartans second place 4×100 relay team.
Baseball, softball playoffs underway
De La Salle baseball has been racking up results over the past decade that rank with the school’s football and wrestling team dominance. The Spartans have won every Section baseball tournament since 2016 and finished first or second annually since 2009 except for 2010. Clayton Valley won its only NCS title in 2009 Division II, but the Ugly Eagles are perennial contenders.
CVCHS (19-5 overall) won the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division with a 9-1 record, two games over runner up Campolindo. DLS (20-5) won the regular season East Bay Athletic League with a 12-1 mark but were shutout by Granada 6-0 in the EBAL playoff semi-finals last week.
Five local schools are in the NCS softball playoffs. Clayton Valley Charter is seeded fifth and College Park sixth in Division I. Northgate is No. 9 in DII while Carondelet is 14th seed. Mt. Diablo girls are 14th in Division III.
Track and field reaches season climax
A number of local athletes posted top five results at the Tri-Valley Area Championships last weekend.
De La Salle freshman Jaden Jefferson was second in the 100 and fifth in the 200. Sophomore teammate Anthony Dean won the triple to complete a jumps sweep for the Spartans. Soph hurdler Markese King was second in the 330 and fifth in the 110 with Spartan Darrell Cenido fourth in the high hurdles.
CVCHS’s Ryan Christy was third in the 400. The Spartan 4×100 relay was second while Clayton Valley Charter boys relays were first (4×800), fourth (4×400) and eighth (4×100).
Alex Lamoureux of College Park won the 1600 while Clayton Valley Charter’s Alan Solari was fourth in the 800 and DLS’s Trey Caldwell second in the 3200.
College Park’s Jessica Chisar finished second in the 800, Carondelet’s Jayla Addison third and CVCHS’s Isabelle Ruff fourth.
Clayton Valley sophomore Santia Ali won the triple jump while Gabriela Luna was third in the 100 hurdles and teammate Kimora McDonald second in the 300. Another Ugly Eagle, Kellsey Ogu was fourth in the long jump.
Carondelet relays were third in the 4×100, fifth in the 4×400 and 4×800. Clayton Valley won the 4×400 race.
De La Salle captures LAX title
Top seed De La Salle’s lacrosse team had three lopsided victories enroute to the championship game against second seed Redwood. The teams met early in the season and the Spartans won 11-10 in overtime. In the championship finale De La Salle had a 7-6 halftime lead edged to a 13-10 final score and the title.
The Spartans, 21-3 overall, won their third successive NCS championship, fourth in past five years of the playoffs. Overall, DLS has won eight of the 18 lacrosse championships since the sport began NCS competition in 2004.
Northgate boys were eliminated in the Division II quarterfinals. Carondelet was ousted in the girls quarterfinals by top seeded and eventual DI champion San Ramon Valley.
CVCHS golfer, tennis player make mark
Nicholas Ashlen made it to the NCS quarterfinals of the singles tennis tournament.
Ugly Eagles golfer Nicky Conti shot a 74 for seventh place individually at the Division II Championships to qualify for the NCS Division I championships along with the De La Salle and Northgate teams.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.