Walk-off homer clinches Coast title for Skyline

“It was electric,” Casas-Wu said. “It’s an understatement. Words can’t express what it meant for the team.”

It was an emotional swing of the bat for the Aragon graduate, one that transcends much deeper than the outcome of the game. Casas-Wu dedicated the victory to two injured teammates, Cesar Ceron and Elijah Fairchild — with Ceron’s gruesome injury specifically at the forefront of the Trojans’ minds.

Ceron was the hero in Skyline’s last walk-off win, Friday, April 12, when the sophomore connected for a game-winning grand slam for an 11-7 win over Chabot. But in the Trojans’ following game, Tuesday, April 16, Ceron was batting late in the game when he got hit in the face with a pitch.

Ceron underwent surgery Monday to repair a broken jaw.

“I was kind of doing it for the team,” Casas-Wu said of Tuesday’s walk-off homer.

Coupled with second-place Chabot’s 7-2 win Tuesday over City College of San Francisco, the Trojans lead in the Coast North standings by one game with one regular-season game to go. Skyline and Chabot square off Thursday in the regular-season finale with the Trojans looking to clinch the conference title outright.

“Our work’s not done,” Trojans manager Tony Brunicardi said. “[The conference championship] is a goal of ours but not the goal for us. Our goal is … get into the playoffs and make a run there.”

Late-inning dramatics have become a signature of the 2024 Trojans. Over the last five games, 32 of the 60 runs Skyline has scored have come during the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

“Something we’ve always preached, and this comes from [former manager Dino Nomicos] … innings seven, eight and nine is when champions are made,” said Brunicardi, who took over the program for Nomicos in 2022. “And this group, they are really good at staying in the moment. And the really special thing is it’s not just one player, it’s all up and down the lineup. … They know it’s next man up and anybody can be the guy at any given time.”

Skyline trailed 5-2 heading into the seventh. The Trojans jumped ahead in the first on a two-run home run from Ethan Bergan. But CSM rallied back by virtue of two home runs from catcher Brody Barker. The sophomore hit a solo shot in the third, followed by an RBI single by Rowan Felsch to tie it 2-2. Then in the fourth, Aidan Taclas gave the Bulldogs the lead with an RBI single, followed by a two-run homer by Barker to make it 5-2.

Skyline starting pitcher Charlie Dohemann departed after six innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits. But the Trojan bullpen hunkered down, with Devin Costa and Garett Carlson combining for three scoreless innings of work. Carlson pitched the last 1 1/3 innings to earn his first collegiate win.

The Skyline bats woke up in the late innings. Gabriel Melara drove home a run in the seventh with an RBI groundout. Then in the eighth, Ben Giovannetti doubled home Justin Tapia to close it to 5-4.

In the ninth, Melara drew a one-out walk. Bergan followed with a hot shot off relief pitcher Gino Rossi’s glove, but Rossi recovered to scoop it up and throw to first for the second out of the inning. That set the stage of Casas-Wu’s two-out heroics.

Casas-Wu said he didn’t realize he hit the ball out of the park, and was surprised to look back as he rounded first and saw his teammates streaming out of the dugout to gather at home plate.

“It was kind of surreal,” Casas-Wu said. “I didn’t know what was happening. I kind of blacked out for a minute.”

Skyline now eyes the regular-season finale. First pitch at Chabot College Baseball Field is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Brunicardi said the team is intent on not sharing the conference crown.

“Absolutely,” Brunicardi said. “We always want to be alone at the top … but our goal is to just go out and play baseball. This group is really starting to come together and play good baseball at the right time.”

Cañada 9, De Anza 1

The Cañada Colts (10-9 Coast North, 22-17 overall) took care of business Tuesday, leading all the way in a lopsided win over De Anza (2-17, 7-32) in Redwood City. Starting pitcher Brady Greene fired six shutout innings to earn the win — his third straight in as many games — allowing four hits and four walks while striking out 10. His record improves to 5-2.

Kyler Bittner was 1 for 3 with a double and two RBIs for the Colts, while Carson Vance and Louis Coca tabbed two hits apiece.

Cañada has already wrapped up fourth place in the Coast Conference North. With the top three placers earning automatic postseason bids, every win in precious to the Colts as they will rely on a potential at-large bid to earn a playoff spot.