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The Justin-Siena baseball team hit the ball hard throughout Saturday night’s North Coast Section Division 4 championship game, finally breaking through with a four-run explosion in the top of the sixth inning.
But it only seemed to light a fire under third-seeded Arcata, a year after the Tigers were seeded No. 1 and lost in the second round.
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Arcata, with seven seniors, answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth before walking off a 5-4 win with a two-run seventh against the Braves and their five seniors.
Playing at Arcata Ball Park, five hours from Napa, the Braves (15-10) tried to give starting junior pitcher Everet Johnson an early lead. But the hosts’ outfielders were up to the challenge as they reeled in four balls on the night that traveled over 380 feet, most with highlight plays.
Justin-Siena finally broke the scoreless tie in the sixth when junior Sam Denkin singled in two runs and sophomore Noah Giovannelli and junior Jason Gray drew bases-loaded walks to give the Braves a 4-0 lead.
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Johnson allowed four runs (three earned) in six-plus innings on five hits, two walks, a hit batter and three strikeouts. Fellow junior Luke Giusto relieved in the seventh and gave up an earned run on two hits, one hit batter and one strikeout.
Braves head coach Jeremy Tayson said Johnson turned in a “Madison Bumgarner-like run for the postseason” in pitching 17 2/3 of the Braves’ 27 2/3 section-playoff innings, and was “magnificent in holding a scrappy Arcata offense at bay until the late innings.
“This matchup has felt inevitable for a while now and it certainly lived up to its billing,” Tayson added. “Baseball is both beautiful and agonizing and that played out in every way imaginable. We played our game and they played theirs and, in the end, we didn’t win. We leave there with no excuses, and nothing but the notion that we played our butts off. Our players represented our school, program, and their families with nothing but class no matter the circumstances. That means a lot to us.”
Dalen Tinsley went 1 for 3 with a double, walk and run scored.
“He potentially finishes his baseball career as one of the best hitters in Justin-Siena/Napa County history, compiling a .399 average as a four-year varsity player,” Tayson said.
Trevor L’Esperance was 1 for 4 with a double and fellow senior Emrys Davies had a stolen base and run scored.
Sophomore catcher Jake Fletcher walked twice, scored a run, and threw out the only Tiger who tried to steal second base on him. Denkin was 1 for 3 with his two RBI and run scored, and Johnson and Giusto each went 1 for 4. Giovannelli had the RBI walk, Gray had two walks with an RBI, and sophomore Henry Meyers had one walk.
Justin-Siena also fell to the Tigers at the same venue in the NCS Division 4 championship game seven years earlier, 6-1, in Greg Evans’ only season as Braves head coach. Tayson has been their head coach ever since and finally got them back in the final after a semifinal exit in 2022.
“It’s been said that it is a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll,” Tayson said. “That is the direction we have been aiming for and to be in this game, at this juncture, is something we are exceedingly proud of. A lot has gone into building our program back up to get here. It starts with incredible buy-in from current and former players, wonderfully dedicated and genuinely invested coaches, and a high level of respect and acknowledgment within the baseball community.
“This year we found our footing with a ‘choose positive’ mentality and, all told, these are the games you want to play and the baseball gods are the ones who make the call when you’re doing it right.”
Varsity Softball
St. Helena to host NorCal opener
The Saints (23-4), coming off winning their first-ever NCS title in Friday night’s Division 4 final over visiting Cloverdale, are seeded No. 4 in the Northern California Regional Division IV playoffs and will host No. 5 seed Orestimba of Newman (23-4) in the first round of the eight-team tournament at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The winner will visit No. 1 seed University Prep of Redding (26-5), which has a first-round bye, at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Today in sports history: May 30
1911: Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500
1911 — Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500 in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds with an average speed of 74.59 mph.
1952: At 22, Troy Ruttman becomes youngest driver to win Indianapolis 500.
1952 — At 22, Troy Ruttman becomes the youngest driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
1955: Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, wins the Indianapolis 500
1955 — Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, wins the Indianapolis 500. Bill Vukovich, seeking his third consecutive victory, is killed in a four-car crash on the 56th lap.
1993: Emerson Fittipaldi wins his second Indianapolis 500
1993 — Emerson Fittipaldi wins his second Indianapolis 500, by 2.8 seconds. Fittipaldi takes the lead on lap 185 and holds on, outfoxing Formula One champion Nigel Mansell and runner-up Arie Luyendyk.
2005: Johns Hopkins wins its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years
2005 — Johns Hopkins wins its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years, beating Duke 9-8 to complete an undefeated season.
2009: Travis Tucker’s RBI single in 25th inning lifts Texas in longest NCAA baseball game
2009 — Travis Tucker hits an RBI single with one out in the top of the 25th inning to give Texas a 3-2 victory over Boston College in the longest baseball game in NCAA history.
2010: Dario Franchitti takes advantage of last-lap wreck to win Indy 500
2010 — Dario Franchitti gets a huge break from a spectacular crash on the last lap to climb back on top of the open-wheel world to win the Indianapolis 500. Franchitti’s second Brickyard victory in four years helps his boss, Chip Ganassi, become the first owner to win Indy and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 in the same year.
2011: Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigns
2011 — Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigns amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country’s top football programs.
2012: Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors’ Open era record of 233 Grand Slam match wins
2012 — Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors’ Open era record of 233 Grand Slam match wins by beating Adrian Ungur of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the second round of the French Open. Federer, who owns a record 16 major championships, is 234-35 at tennis’ top four tournaments. Connors was 233-49. The Open era began in 1968.