Great pitching will stop great hitting all the time. And miraculous comebacks as well.
Valley Christian, the fourth-seed in the CIF Northern California Division 1 playoffs, extended its pitching scoreless streak to 32 innings with a 3-0 win at top seed De La Salle on Thursday.
Gabe Felix and Alex Kim combined on a seven-hitter to not only avenge a bitter 11-8 loss to De La Salle in the 2023 NorCal finals, but also end the Spartans’ remarkable 54-game home playoff win streak that dates back to 2006.
De La Salle had not lost a home playoff game since a 4-3 defeat to Bishop O’Dowd on May 31, 2006.
Alex Moutzouridis drove in two runs for Valley christian (22-9), including a solo home run in the fourth inning, a deep drive to right-center. He also drove in a run on a groundout in the first after losing pitcher Kaleo Jones gave up a single, walk and hit batsman. Jones dropped a popup to score logan Mull to make it 2-0.
From there it was all Felix, who improved to 9-3 and lowered his ERA to less than 1.00. Kim recorded his fifth save, by striking out two including freshman Brandon Manlvong with two on to end it.
De La Salle (23-5, 23-2 on the field) had won NorCal titles in 2022, 2023 and 2025, all with seventh inning rallies including a six-ran uprising at Valley Christian in 2023, when the Warriors led 8-5 entering the last frame.
Valley Christian will now play at second-seed Elk Grove, an 11-7 winner over Granada, in Saturday’s championship game.
Check back for more on this game and other CIF baseball semifinal action later.
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