Analy ends great season with 23-7 record
MORAGA – It was a tough end to a great season for the Analy Tigers on Saturday June 5, suffering a 4-1 loss to top-ranked Acalanes in the title game of the North Coast Section Division-3 playoff tournament.
Seeded third, the Tigers advanced to the NCS championship game at St. Mary’s College in Moraga by virtue of a 4-1 semifinal win over 10th ranked visiting El Cerrito on May 31.
Analy sent veteran right-hander Ryan Calderon to the hill opposite El Cerrito starter Kevin Page, and the pair locked horns for the first four scoreless innings. The Tigers finally drew blood in the home half of the fifth, pushing across three critical runs.
Drew Valez got the party started with a leadoff knock, followed by a bunt single from Spencer Vogel. Nolan Alvarez laced an RBI hit and Jacob Beeler ripped a two-run double to make it 3-0.
The Gauchos scratched for a solo run in the sixth, but the Tigers answered with an RBI single off the bat of Devon Ogston in the bottom of the frame for a three-run cushion. Gabe Werthimer closed it out in a scoreless seventh to preserve the 4-1 win.
Calderon (6 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 4 Ks) earned the win, while Werthimer (1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, K) notched the save. Leading Analy hitters were Beeler (2 for 3, 2B, 2 RBIs), Alvarez (2 for 3, run, RBI), Carter Merlaud (1 for 3), Jack Newman (1 for 3), Jordan Parks (1 for 1), Vogel (1 for 2, run), Ogston (1 for 3, run, RBI), Valez (1 for 3), and Tayler Cullen (1 for 3).
The victory earned the Tigers to their second trip to the NCS championship game in the last three years against number one seeded Acalanes. The Dons handed the Tigers a 4-3 loss in the 2014 NCS title clash, and this game would follow a similar script.
Things started well enough for Analy in the first inning, as David Codoni ripped a triple and later scored on a ground ball from Alvarez for a 1-0 lead. With veteran Gabe Werthimer toeing the slab, the Dons quickly answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame to grab a 2-1 edge.
Acalanes ace hurler Grant Young kept the Tigers off the board the rest of the way, with the Dons icing it with solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings en route to a 4-1 victory. Werthimer was saddled with the loss, while top hitters were Alvarez (1 for 2, RBI), Codoni (1 for 3, 3B, run), Ogston (1 for 4), Beeler (1 for 2), and Merlaud (1 for 2).
The Tigers finished the season with a Sonoma County League championship pennant and a final record of 23-7.
