De La Salle's Alec Blair chasing one last title as two-sport star finishes legendary HS stint
Alec Blair said no matter what happens Saturday he'll likely shed a tear. The De La Salle-Concord center fielder, one of the Bay Area's best two-sport high school athletes ever, plays in his final prep sporting event when the top-seeded Spartans (28-4) host Serra (28-6) in a Northern California (CIF) Division 1 championship game.
Both teams are coming off 3-0 home wins on Thursday, De La Salle over St. Mary's-Stockton and Serra beat Los Gatos. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
CIF Northern California playoffs
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Division 1 Semifinals
De La Salle 3, St. Mary's-Stockton 0
Serra 3, Los Gatos 0
Saturday's championship: No. 3 Serra (28-6) at No. 1 De La Salle (28-4), 4 p.m.
Division 2 Semifinals
No. 1 Yuba City 11, No. 5 Lodi 3
No. 2 St. Francis-Mountain View 2, No. 6 Acalanes 0
Saturday's championship: No. 2 St. Francis (22-10) at No. 1 Yuba City (30-5), 4 p.m.
Division 3 semifinals
No. 4 Fowler (29-3) at No. 1 Roseville (22-11), 4 p.m. (Friday)
No. 3 Rancho Cotate at No. 2 Carmel (21-10), noon (Friday)
Division 4 Semifinals
No. 3 Santa Clara 6, No. 2 West Valley 0
No. 5 Menlo School (22-8) at No. 1 Woodland Christian (27-6), noon Friday
Division 5 Semifinals
No. 1 Etna 9, No. 4 Los Molinos 6
No. 2 Stevenson 6, No. 6 Lincoln-SF 0
Saturday's championship: No. 2 Stevenson (21-8) at No. 1 Etna (20-7), 2 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
Division 1 Semifinals
No. 1 Oak Ridge 7, No. 4 Whitney 0
No. 2 Del Oro 6, No. 3 St. Francis 5
Saturday's championship: No. 2 Del Oro (30-2) at No. 1 Oak Ridge (26-4), 10 a.m.
Division 2 Semifinals
No. 4 Liberty-Brentwood 17, No. 1 Vanden 10
No. 2 Salinas 1, No. 6 King's Academy 0
Saturday's championship: No. 4 Liberty (25-4) at No. 2 Salinas (20-8), 4 p.m.
Division 3
Semifinals: No. 1 Hillsdale 3, No. 5 Liberty-Madera 2
No. 2 Cardinal Newman 1, No. 6 Pleasant Valley 0
Saturday's championship: No. 2 Cardinal Newman (24-6) at No. 1 Hillsdale (20-9-1), 4 p.m.
Division 4 Semifinals
No. 1 East Nicolaus 1, No. 4 Northgate 0
No. 7 Aptos (18-8) vs. No. 3 San Leandro (22-8) at Burrell Field, 6 p.m. Friday
Saturday's championship: Aptos-San Leandro winner at No. 1 East Nicolaus (24-6), 4 p.m.
Division 5 Semifinals
No. 1 Biggs 11, No. 4 Miramonte 6
No. 3 King City 14, No. 7 Balboa 5
'Regardless of the outcome I'll be a little sad,' Blair said before flashing a big smile. 'I'll be a little happier though if we get it done. That would be legendary.'
Which is how some would describe the 6-foot-7 senior's athletic career on the basketball and baseball teams. His teams have gone a combined 198-50 in that span, collected five North Coast Section and two Northern California titles.
Blair has been a four-year All-Metro player in basketball and two years in baseball, with a third time also guaranteed with a team-leading .446 average heading into Saturday's game with 33 hits (14 for extra bases), 30 runs and 24 RBIs.
The long and rangy outfielder is ranked among the top 50 recruits nationally in both sports, which is extremely rare. He plans to play both at the University of Oklahoma. His most vivid memory in four years he said 'is just growing up with all my guys, the brotherhood we've built. I'll never forget it.'
What will he be thinking about heading into Saturday's game? 'Just winning. It's that simple. Score more runs than Serra and don't let them score.'
That's what either winning pitcher Graham Schlicht (De La Salle) or Nate Hui (Serra) did Thursday in semifinal shutouts. Schlicht, a Stanford commit, walked a season-high four, but struck out nine and allowed just four hits. Hui scattered seven hits and struck out two.
A pair of RBI singles from Antonio Castro — he tied De La Salle's single-season record with 44 RBIs — was all the offensive support Schlicht needed.
'He was phenomenal,' Blair said of Schlicht's performance. 'Not one ball was hit to me. I didn't have to do anything.'
This will be the second time the teams have played this season — De La Salle won a 5-2 tournament game over Serra on April 16. Over the last two decades, the Spartans hold a 7-5 series lead, winning the last three meetings.
Five Metro baseball teams and three softball will play for NorCal titles and two others have a chance Friday with semifinal wins.
More baseball: In Division 2, Landon Kim fired a two-hitter with five strikeouts, lifting second-seeded St. Francis to a 2-0 home win over No. 6 Acalanes-Lafayette. Tanner Wall had two hits and an RBI for the Lancers (22-10), who now travel to Sutter County to face top seed Yuba City (30-5), which beat fifth-seeded Lodi, 11-3. The Honkers are 30-5. … In D4, No. 5 seed Menlo School-Atherton (23-8) moved into the finals Friday with a 15-11 win over Woodland Christian in a game suspended on Thursday due to darkness. Menlo (23-8) will travel to third-seed Santa Clara (29-3), a 6-0 winner over West Valley as Jaxton Chao had three hits and two RBIs and Drew Diffenderfer pitched a five-hitter with five strikeouts. … In D5, sixth-seeded Lincoln-San Francisco lost at No. 2 Stevenson-Pebble Beach (21-8) which received a combined three-hitter by Jacob Hall and Alex Wang.
Softball: In D1, Ava Bulanti and May Meltz had two hits each, but St. Francis fell 6-5 at Del Oro-Loomis. The game see-sawed throughout with the Lancers (28-4) scoring twice in the first inning and Del Oro (30-2) answering with three in the bottom half. Del Oro blasted three home runs, from freshmen Emma Johnson and Caelyn Campos and sophomore Avyn Brower. … In D2, fourth-seeded Liberty-Brentwood (25-4) put on its hitting shoes with a 17-10 win over Vanden-Fairfield, scoring eight in the second inning to take control. Jewel Cooper led a 21-hit attack with four hits. The Lions now travel to Salinas (20-8), a 1-0 eight-inning winner over King's Academy-Sunnyvale behind a five-hitter and nine strikeouts from Abi Jones. King's Academy wasted a 16-strikeout, five-hit performance by junior Katia Nesper. … Second-seed Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (24-6) will travel to top-seed Hillsdale-San Mateo (20-9-1) after tight semifinal wins. Hillsdale pulled out a 3-2 home victory over fifth-seeded Liberty-Madera, pushing across a round in the bottom of the eighth. Sophia Shelton had two hits and an RBI as did Giuliana Brum, making a winner out of sophomore Lola Jones (five-hitter, nine strikeouts over eighth innings. Senior pitcher Callie Howard struck out eight and allowed five hits as Newman defeated Pleasant Valley-Chico, 1-0. … In D4, No. 4 seed Northgate-Walnut Creek dropped a 1-0 semifinal game at East Nicolaus, which will play the Friday winner between Aptos at San Leandro. … In D5, Miramonte-Orinda and Balboa had seasons end with semifinal losses.
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