Baseball: St. Joseph knocks off No. 1 seed in CIF playoffs

The Knights knocked off No. 1 seed Kerman in the first round of the CIF-CS Division 2 playoffs in a stunner as St. Joseph is the No. 16 seed and Kerman was the No. 1 seed after it went 28-0 during the regular season.

The Lions scored twice in the second inning, but didn't score again as starter Ethan Mansfield and reliever Caden Cuccia shut them out the rest of the way. 

Mansfield, a senior righty, went five innings, allowing six hits and two runs. He limited the damage after allowing five walks. He struck out six. 

Cuccia pitched the sixth and the seventh, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out two and walking one. 

The Knights won despite accumulating three hits. Jeremy Camarena provided most of the offense for St. Joseph. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Camarena doubled home the Knights' first run in the top of the third inning, scoring Jayden Cervantes, who reached on a walk.

Jayson Rodriguez then provided a big hit when he doubled home Travis Royal with nobody out in the fifth, tying the game. Royal led off the fifth with a walk.

Cervantes was then hit by a pitch and Cuccia bunted into an out, bringing Camarena up with one out in the fifth and runners at first and second. Camarena then hit a ground ball that the Lions tried to turn a double play on, but a throwing error allowed Rodriguez to score the go-ahead run. 

Neither team would score again. Mansfield got out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth, after a double and a single he got a fly out and a strikeout to end the inning. 

After a Kerman single, Cuccia and the St. Joseph offense turned a double play on a bunt to stifle what could've been a Kerman rally. Cuccia then forced a line out to end the sixth. 

Kerman's Giovanni Groppetti led off the seventh with a double but Cuccia struck out the next two batters and induced a ground out to end the game. 

The Knights won despite getting out-hit eight to three and committing three errors to Kerman's one. 

Kerman senior Jayden Gonzales went four innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs while walking three and striking out three. 

Devon Daniel pitched three innings in relief and didn't allow a hit, striking out four and walking two. 

Kerman sophomore Kevin Chavez drove in both runs on a single in the second inning. Adam Delgado went 2 for 4 for the Lions and Daniel had two hits, including a double. 

Santa Ynez eliminated in 10 innings

Santa Ynez suffered the toughest of defeats Tuesday, falling 1-0 in 10 innings on the road in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs. 

A bases-loaded walk ended the game in the bottom of the 10th inning with two outs. 

The Santa Ynez pitchers, starter Jackson Cloud and reliever Vic Heredia, were stellar. Cloud, a senior right-hander, went 7 1/3 innings, striking out 13 and allowing just one hit. Cloud threw 112 pitches and allowed just one walk. 

Heredia came in to pitch in the eighth inning and went 2 1/3, striking out six and walking three and allowing one run with two hits. 

The Pirate pitchers struck out 19 batters and lost. 

The Pirates had eight hits and allowed just three and lost. Santa Ynez committed the game's lone error. 

Estancia improved to 27-5 on the season with the win and will play for a CIF-SS Div. 6 championship later this week. 

Trevor Scott and Andrew Mits combined on the shutout for the Eagles. Scott allowed six hits over seven innings and struck out four while walking three. Mits went three innings, allowing two hits and striking out two. 

Estancia won in the bottom of the 10th inning after a walk, another walk, a Mits single, a strikeout, another strikeout and a walk. 

Arroyo Grande routs Nipomo

Arroyo Grande scored nine times in the fourth inning to pull away from Nipomo in the first round of the CIF-CS Div. 2 playoffs on Tuesday. 

Ty Scrudato hit a two-run homer in the third inning for Arroyo Grande, Niko Ikenoyama went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run and Josiah Cabreros drove in three runs as the Eagles rolled. 

Scrudato went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs on the day. Kaden Tynes scored two runs as Ryan Tayman and Marc Byrum also scored. Judah Hill had an RBI and a run. 

Byrum went 4 2/3 innings on the mound, striking out six and allowing three hits. Aiden Zickuhr closed out the game.

Nipomo's Nate Reese had a hit and a run and Wade Arkinson drove in a run. Jesse Ahedo had the Titans' other hit. 

Arroyo Grande will host Clovis in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Clovis, the No. 7 seed, beat No. 10 Fresno 2-1 on Tuesday.