West Valley picked up 12 runs on 13 efficient hits to roll past Chabot 12-2 at Valhalla Sunday and earn its first 3C2A State Championship berth since 2008. The best-of-three Regional Final series between the Coast North and South champions went the distance, with WVC taking Friday's game one 8-3 and Chabot prevailing 8-7 Saturday.
The Vikings, masters of the playoff comeback win this year, were in command from the start in this one. A Jayce Dobie grand slam in the 2nd gave WVC a 5-0 lead and all the momentum. Gabriel Tapia's RBI single in the 5th made it 7-0 and the rout was on.
West Valley added single runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th on a Logan Stelling 2-run double, a James Bose wild-pitch score and a Dyan Unangst solo homer. Ryan Lordier ended the scoring with a two-run single that knocked in Tapia and Degan Davis and ran WVC's lead to 12-2.
The WVC offensive output was backed by an error-free defense and shut-down pitching.
Starter Adrian Valdez got the win, giving up two runs on six hits, and striking out four Gladiators in 5.2 innings. Chabot (33-12) couldn't get anything going against relievers Lincoln Juarez, Grant Selig and Will Pires in the last three and a third.
Davis finished 3-for-3 with an RBI, two doubles and two runs. Lordier was 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Stelling hammered a pair of doubles. Bose and Tapia both had two-hit afternoons.
The 2024 3C2A State Championship is May 25-27 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. West Valley (37-12) will be joined by Big 8 champion San Joaquin Delta (34-13) as NorCal representatives. Orange Empire Conference rivals Saddleback (31-17) and 2023 champion Santa Ana (35-13-1) make up the SoCal contingent. Seeding has not been announced.
For complete information on the 2024 championship tournament, including tickets and lodging, visit the 3C2A website:
https://www.cccaasports.org/sports/bsb/Championship
