Pitching dominates playoffs

Davis threw a combined no-hitter to send the Blue Devils to the North Finals. In the Bay Area, Berkeley and Kennedy-Fremont used dominant starters to post first round upsets.

Matt Trask and Trey Golston combined on a no-hitter in Davis' 6-1 over Rocklin to move into the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I North finals. The Blue Devils last won a section title in 2004. They await the winner of Rocklin-Elk Grove, which will play on Thursday. In a tournament where pitching depth wins out, Davis is sitting in a strong position. Elk Grove is the defending section champion and has taken two out of three games from Davis this year.

It will be Benicia-Christian Brothers in the Division II finals after both teams spent time in the NCP Top 20 this year. Steven Talbert went the distance with eight strikeouts in Christian Brothers' 4-1 win over Kennedy-Sacramento on Tuesday.

10 strikeouts from Jake Corn were part of a dominant performance from Manteca in a 9-0 win over Cosumnes Oaks. The Buffaloes have won their three playoff games by a combined score of 20-2. The top ranked team in Division IV, Manteca will face the winner of Visa del Lago and Sierra. The winner of this section will almost assuredly finish as the top team in Division IV.

The run for Lindhurst just keeps getting better and better. Following a 3-2 win over Dixon, Lindhurst has won all three of its playoff games in the final inning, according to the Appeal-Democrat. In the 11 year history of Division V, only three schools (Central Catholic, Escalon and Capital Christian) have won titles. The Blazers will try to become program No. 4 on this list, but defending champion Capital Christian looms on the opposite end of the bracket.

Three time defending Division VII champion Valley Christian-Roseville overcame a game one loss to Brookside Christian with 15-1 and 7-1 wins on Tuesday. In the finale, BJ Marshall struck out seven batters to pick up the win. It will face Millennium on Monday for the section title.

North Coast Section

Amador Valley won't be back-to-back Division I champions after a shocking 3-1 loss to San Leandro. Kevin Nava threw a complete game for the Pirates, which swept the West Alameda County Shoreline Division.

After faltering down the stretch, California had a quick playoff exit thanks to Noah Bremer and Berkeley. The Washington signee threw a complete game and went 2-for-4 with three RBI in a 7-2 win. The Grizzlies were once ranked No. 2 in Northern California, but could end the year unranked.

Relying on pitching, defense and timely offense, Clayton Valley Charter wasn't able to put together enough offense in a 3-0 loss to Newark Memorial. Junior William Traynor improved to 9-1 in outdueling Austin Cannedy. The Ugly Eagles lost five out of eight games after a 19-0 start.

Top seeded Analy was ousted by No. 16 Kennedy-Fremont (3-0). Nevada bound Cal Stevenson struck out 15 batters to spearhead the upset bid. Kennedy travels to Alhambra on Saturday.