Andrew Edwards/Special to the Record Searchlight
| Redding Record Searchlight
West Valley baseball’s storied season added another wrinkle in the first round of the Division IV CIF Northern California Regional playoffs Tuesday.
On the brink of elimination after a pressure-filled game, senior Manny Sleezer delivered a tenth-inning walk-off in front of a home crowd to send West Valley past No. 7 seed Arcata, 9-8, and into the semifinal on Thursday.
Junior Degan Palos also came through when it mattered most. After Arcata stunned the Eagles with a four-run seventh inning to take an 8-6 lead, West Valley had three outs to save its season. Palos drove in the tying run, senior Gabe Lyman, and extended the game.
The Eagles hadn’t found themselves in this type of game this season, but were able to meet the moment. Tuesday marked their first extra-inning game of the 2025 campaign and was just the second time they’d ended a game with a one-score win this season, boasting a 9.2 run margin of victory entering NorCals.
West Valley’s 14-hit total counted as a postseason high and was its 13th double-digit hit game of a now 23-win season. Every player who had an at-bat Tuesday recorded at least one hit for the Eagles, including Palos, sophomore Gunner Church and senior Tait Brimhall, who each had two or more.
Santa Clara, the No. 3 seed, will travel to Cottonwood to take on West Valley at 4 p.m. Thursday after its first-round 10-9 victory over No. 6 seed Oakland Tech, which also ended with a walk-off. The winner will face either top-seeded Woodland Christian on the road or No. 5 seed Menlo School at home in the Division IV championship at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
West Valley’s next test is its biggest to date and it poses a resume that rivals its own. Santa Clara is on a 19-game win streak, by far the best of any remaining NorCal playoff team across five divisions, and has rattled off a 28-win season. It is here after winning a Division IV Central Coast Section championship.
It’s been decades since West Valley has enjoyed a season to this degree, and it’s all happened under a first-year head coach in Willie Church. The club has won 21 of its last 22 games, and is knocking on the door of a NorCal championship, the highest honor for high school baseball as it does not hold a statewide playoff like most other prep sports.
After Chico, Durham and Maxwell’s first-round losses, West Valley is one of three Northern Section teams left standing in the NorCal playoffs. Top-seeded Etna and Los Molinos are set to face off in Division V on Thursday with a championship appearance on the line.