For the second straight year, El Cerrito High School’s Karl Collins is the North Coast Section Division I boys tennis singles champion.
Collins, the No. 1 seed, was dominant in the final, No. 2 Luke Neal of Redwood. 6-1, 6-3. Collins, a junior, becomes only the 10th boys singles player since the section started in 1915 to win two section titles, and just the sixth since 1948.
Last season, Collins also defeated Neal in the finals in straight sets. But Collins only had one of his four matches in the tournament go to three sets.
This year, Collins was pushed in the quarterfinals and semifinals. First, he was pushed by Vintage’s Lucas Bollinger 6-7 (7-9), 6-1, 6-1. Then No. 4 seed Rithik Sardana provided a tough matchup for Collins, who won 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Collins won his opening match 6-0, 6-0 over St. Mary’s Jeremy Samuel.
Berkeley’s Alex Chang and Michael Wright reached the Division I doubles finals before falling to Redwood’s Devon Whepley and Giacomo Volpicelli 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. The Berkeley duo, the No. 3 seed, won three matches in straight sets before the finals, losing only a total of eight games in those three matches.
Bishop O’Dowd’s Brandon Khuu and Coleman Forth won the Division II doubles final, defeating Piedmont’s Sajan Srivastava and Charlie Lambert 6-1, 6-3. Both teams had won their previous two tournament matches in straight sets.
Baseball
Alameda swept Bishop O’Dowd last week to enter the West Alameda County Conference playoffs this week on a roll.
The Hornets finished the WACC regular season with a 10-5 WACC-Foothill League record, only a game behind second-place Bishop O’Dowd and two games behind first-place Berkeley. Alameda led 3-1 in the second inning on its way to a 6-2 victory on May 1, then came back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat the Dragons 11-6 two days later.
But Bishop O’Dowd edged Alameda 7-6 in a WACC-Foothill playoff semifinal on May 7. The Dragons took a 5-0 lead in the top of the third inning and scored the winning run in the top of the seventh on their way to a 7-6 victory. The result of the final were not available at press time.
Berkeley was upset 3-2 by Arroyo in nine innings in the other semifinal. The Yellowjackets received a good pitching performance in that game, as it did in a sweep of San Leandro on May 1 and May 3. In the May 1 game, the Yellowjackets offense was also in gear in a 10-1 win. Both Theo Hardy and Joshua Fairchild had two hits, including doubles, for Berkeley in the game. Then the Yellowjackets edged San Leandro 1-0 on May 3 with a run in the third inning.
After clinching the WACC Shoreline Division title with an 11-3 victory over Hayward on April 30, Piedmont shut out Hayward 8-0 in a WACC playoff semifinal on May 7. Ben Levinson pitched a complete-game three-hitter with seven strikeouts and no walks for the win. Kyle Spanier was 3 for 4, including a double, with two RBI. Owen Levinson added two hits and two RBI in the victory.
Piedmont faced Encinal in the Shoreline Division championship game on May 9. The result was not available at press time.
Encinal, which finished the regular season one game in back of Piedmont, also produced a shutout in its semifinal win. The Jets beat Mt. Eden 9-0 on May 7. Encinal swept Hayward on May 1 and 3, winning 16-2 and 5-4.
El Cerrito edged Albany 8-7 in a Tri-County Athletic League-Rock Division game on 8-7 and advanced to the division championship game on May 9 against regular-season champion Pinole Valley. Both DeAngelo Fleetwood and Niko Parawan drove in two runs in the victory. Barry Rodriguez drove in two runs for Albany.
Skyline and Oakland Tech will play in the Oakland Section championship game on May 15 at 4 p.m.
Skyline won its semifinal 17-3 over Castlemont on May 3. Myles Davis had two hits, including a home run, in the victory.
Softball
Bishop O’Dowd’s Elizabeth Avery has been simply dominant on the mound.
The senior threw four straight shutouts at press time, including a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts and one walk in an 8-0 win over Arroyo on May 7. Avery struck out 22 batters in a 10-inning 1-0 win over Castro Valley on May 3, allowing only one hit. She also fired two-hitters in a 1-0 win over Alameda on May 1 (18 strikeouts) and a 4-0 victory over the Hornets on May 2 (17 strikeouts).
Girls swimming
Three local athletes placed in the top six at the North Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships last week.
College Prep freshman Sydney Griscavage placed fifth in the girls 50-yard freestyle (23.93 seconds). Berkeley’s Sumi Cameron was sixth in the girls diving competition (402.25 points). Teammate Haley Kirtland was also sixth in the girls 100 freestyle (51.77).
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