Highlanders end season against Encinal
The Piedmont High School baseball team split its home-and-home series with Berkeley, with each team winning on the road.
The Highlanders beat the Yellowjackets on April 28, 6-3. Piedmont scored five runs in the final two innings, then had to hold on in the bottom of the seventh.
Berkeley had taken a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Enrique Sotelo broke a tie with a run-scoring single. The Highlanders loaded the bases in the top of the sixth and Massimo Mittone cleared them with a three-run double.
In the top of the seventh, Ben Sorensen hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 5-2. Max Fujimoto then reached on an error to bring home an insurance run.
In the bottom of the seventh, two singles sandwiched around a strikeout by Mittone of Ethan Walker got the Yellowjackets going. A force play brought a run home but Mittone got Gabriel Gonzalez to fly out to end the game.
Jonah Cha-Foster went two for four with two runs scored to help lead Piedmont. Sammy Ragones went two for three with a run. Sorensen was one for three with two RBI.
Sotelo led Berkeley by going three for four with an RBI. Miles Mino went two for three with an RBI and a run.
George Bishop got the win, taking over for Sorensen in the fifth. Bishop went one inning, allowing just one hit. Sorensen went four-plus, allowing two runs on four hits and six walks with two strikeouts. Mittone got the save, going the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Ezra Brilliant went six innings for the Yellowjackets and took the loss. He allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Berkeley roared back on April 30, routing host Piedmont, 12-1. Mino went three for four with five RBI and two runs to lead the Yellowjacket offense. His three-run home run in the top of second made it 6-0.
Walker went three for three with two runs scored and an RBI. Isaiah Mays was two for four with two RBI and a run. Sotelo was two for four with two runs and an RBI. Akanni Owudunni was two for three with three runs scored and Quinton Hill was two for four with two runs.
Sotelo went the distance on the mound, allowing just a seventh inning run on six hits with five strikeouts.
Jack Meyjes went the first three for Piedmont, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout. Bishop pitched one inning, allowing two runs on three hits with a strikeout. Orion Sachs went the final two, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with a strikeout.
The Highlanders got their sole run in the seventh when Sorensen doubled in Lucas Delventhal. Ragones went two for two for Piedmont.
The Highlanders conclude the regular season with a home-and-home series with Encinal. Piedmont was scheduled to host on May 5 and the Jets will host on May 7.