Andrew Edwards/Special to the Record Searchlight
| Redding Record Searchlight
As of Tuesday’s action, every CIF Northern Section Championship game has been finalized and will take place Saturday, May 24.
One Redding-area team is still in contention after a jam-packed day in the North State postseason that saw some clubs play up to two games in a double-elimination format.
Division II: Foothill’s season over, a Chico-team section championship
The top-division champion will be Chico or Pleasant Valley for the fifth-straight season, and eighth time in the last ten seasons. The last Redding-area team to make a top-division title game was Foothill in 2022. Shasta was the last to win one in 2013.
Top-seeded Chico, which is 27-1 and ranked inside MaxPreps’ top-50 teams in California, beat Red Bluff, 5-3, to advance to its third-straight section championship game. After a first-round walk-off win over No. 4 seed Pleasant Valley, it will face its crosstown rival again — this time with added meaning.
Foothill, the No. 6 seed, didn’t produce any runs for a second-straight game and saw its season come to an end against No. 4 seed Pleasant Valley, 2-0. Junior ace, Blake Schwerdt, pitched for the Cougars and allowed just two hits through six innings for the second time during this postseason run.
As for Pleasant Valley, it was a one-man show: Dominic Borges pitched six scoreless innings and produced a go-ahead two-run RBI-triple to vault his team into the semifinals. The Vikings then posted a season-high 19 runs in a blowout win over No. 2 seed Red Bluff.
Aside from senior Connor Modesitt, who was an integral part of this year’s team, everyone who started on Tuesday has the potential to return next season for Foothill. It may also feature one of the better one-two punches on the mound in the section next year with two-year rotational stalwart, Schwerdt, and rising sophomore Kayden Williams.
Division III: It’s West Valley’s to lose
After back-to-back wins Tuesday, West Valley has a chance to put an emphatic stamp on an already historic 21-win season.
The top-seeded Eagles beat No. 2 Gridley, 8-1, and No. 5 seed Yreka, 11-1, and will see No. 3 seed Lassen on Saturday in the championship. The Grizzlies beat Yreka, 7-2, to advance to the title bout.
West Valley beat Lassen by a combined score of 25-3 in a two-game series to close the regular season. It was riding a section-best 17-game win streak before a first-round playoff loss to Yreka at the start of the double-elimination round.
First-year head coach Willie Church has his team in position for its first title and NorCal appearance in more than two decades.
Division IV: Durham’s late run pushes it past U-Prep and into the championship
University Prep, the No. 3 seed, saw its 19-win season end at the hands of a go-ahead run in the top of the seventh by No. 2 seed Durham on Tuesday, resulting in a 5-4 defeat.
Durham will now face Winters, the No. 1 seed, who is riding a section-best 17-game win streak, in the championship game. It swept the Trojans in a two-game series this season and is appearing in its second-straight section title game after losing to Colusa, 4-3, last year.
The end of this season signifies the end of an era for U-Prep as they’ll graduate a pool of multi-year, some highly productive varsity players. Waylon Strippling, Casey Wrathall, Kaos Martin, Jacob Lindell, David Wenham, Tyler White and Braydon Sandbloom all made their mark on a well-regarded program.
The Panthers will look to retool under sixth-year head coach Bradd Miller, who has brought a winning pedigree during his tenure.
Division VI: Redding Christian’s repeat effort comes to an end
A back-to-back section championship bid for No. 5 seed Redding Christian ended at the hands of top-seeded Los Molinos on Tuesday.
A nine-run third inning from Los Molinos powered a 13-3 win over the defending champions. The Bulldogs are set to face No. 3 seed Maxwell, whom they lost to in the regular season, 4-2.
The Lions can return all nine playoff starters next season, including 2024 all-league talents, juniors Brodie Ogden and Conner Moore, and reigning Five Star League Coach of the Year Matt Webb.