For the second straight postseason game, Freedom High’s baseball team went on the road and pulled off another upset. This time, the 12th-seeded Falcons took down No. 4 El Cerrito 2–0 on Friday afternoon in El Cerrito.
Video by Jeff Weisinger/The Press
Immediately after starting pitcher Caleb Emmons recorded the final out — a groundout by Dylan Schulz to shortstop Andrew Borrego — there wasn’t much of a celebration, however. Emmons and several senior teammates shook hands, packed up, showered in El Cerrito’s facilities, and boarded a bus provided by the school that was heading straight to Freedom’s senior prom.
Now, let the celebrations begin.
“I’m excited,” Emmons said after the win.
“It’s great,” head coach Ken Evanson said. “That’s a lot for them to sacrifice and be okay with getting there at a different time than maybe their peers. It shows a lot about them as people.”
Friday’s win came just days after the Falcons’ late-inning rally against No. 5 James Logan in Union City on Tuesday. Freedom overcame a three-run deficit to tie the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning, then scored three more in the eighth to win, highlighted by a Dylan DeLauter home run in extra innings.
The game on Friday played out differently. Freedom took the lead with an RBI single by Devin Carmignani in the second inning, then added another run in the third on a Colton Vick RBI single. That’s all the offense they needed.
“Caleb just pounded the strike zone the whole time,” Evanson said. “He put pressure on them and was probably ahead in 90 percent of his counts. He did great.”
Emmons allowed two hits, retiring 13 straight batters from the second inning until Ellis Fuller’s double in the sixth. He worked out of that jam by getting Kamal Bhatt and Talio Ubalde to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
Emmons struck out four batters in the complete-game win.
His biggest challenge came in the seventh. After recording the first two outs, Emmons gave up two singles and hit a batter to load the bases. Following a quick chat with Evanson, he got the final out to seal the win and send Freedom to the semifinals.
“He just did what he does — he competed,” Evanson said.
The Falcons advance to their first North Coast Section semifinal since 2018, when they reached the round then as the No. 14 seed before falling to Foothill 11–1. Both of Freedom’s wins that postseason also came on the road at Berkeley and Amador Valley.
“Man, this run has been so fun,” Emmons said. “I love going out here with these boys every day, just battling with them. Pitching has been giving us a really good chance. All we gotta do is connect at the plate sometimes, and good things happen.”
“They’re not giving in,” Evanson said of his team’s resilience. “They’ve got a lot of fight in them. We’ve been right there all season — just a clutch hit away. Lately, we’ve been getting those clutch hits and executing when we’re supposed to.”
Freedom will face top-seeded California High on Tuesday, May 27, at 5 p.m. The Grizzlies advanced to the semifinals after defeating Washington (Fremont) 4–0 on Friday.
But first — it’s time for prom.