Ugly Eagles baseball season continues in NorCal playoffs

Clayton Valley’s baseball team advanced to the CIF NorCal Baseball Championships with a win on Friday over Redwood-Larkspur. 

The Ugly Eagles had a successful season going 21-3 in the regular season and winning the Diablo-Foothill league championship. They were led by head coach Casey Coakley, in his first full season back after being sidelined for part of last season. 

The team is currently ranked No. 28 in the state and No. 2 in the North Coast Section. In the regular season they had two big wins over College Park, which was a top 15 team in the state. 

In the North Coast Section playoffs they beat Dublin 6-3 in the first round and Monte Vista 3-1 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals they fell short against Granada 3-1. In the third place game they deafeted Redwood 2-1 to advance to the Division II CIF NorCal Baseball Championships. 

Winning was a big theme for this team. As of June 1 they’ve won 24 games, the most they’ve had since the 2016-17 season. The team has one of the highest winning percentages in all of NCS. 

“The one thing we do is win and we will keep doing it,” assistant varsity head coach Herc Pardi said while Clayton Valley was playing in the NCS playoffs. 

Coakley described the team as one of the most dedicated and hard working teams he’s had. He mentioned, “You win with your seniors.”

The team has been led by many seniors, most notably Josiah Morris and Vince Della Santina, who both will be playing Division 1 baseball – Morris at Oklahoma State and Della Santina at Cal. 

Josiah Morris (5) and Vince Della Santina helped anchor Clayton Valley's lineup all year. Both seniors signed with Division 1 college programs. (Photo courtesy of CVCHS Yearbook)

These two led the offense, with both being All-league selections and Morris being league MVP. Morris slugged five home runs and Della Santina hit one of his own before going down with a injury. 

Coakley also described the team's juniors as “a group who always wins”, stemming back to that group playing JV and now varsity. 

Junior Tavion Stafford has slugged two home runs and is second in total runs scored. Sophomores Charlie Reyes and Nolan Lopez are also key contributors. As of June 1 Reyes has hit two home runs and led the team in runs batted in. 

On the mound they are led by senior Blake Benner and junior Everett Flanegan, both threw a combined 140 innings-plus. These two helped the team post an elite ERA that was under 2.00. 

“Benner has pitched a lot and has given us some valuable innings, the same could be said about Everett," said Coakley.

Clayton Valley enters the Division II CIF NorCal Baseball Championships as the No. 1 seed after playing most the season in Division 1. They host Archbishop Mitty Tuesday at 4 p.m.