De La Salle dominates in shutout win over San Ramon Valley

DANVILLE — The energy inside Rick Steen Ballpark could be felt from across San Ramon Valley’s campus.

Local residents from nearby apartments tuned in from their balcony to watch Wednesday’s highly anticipated matchup between two East Bay Athletic league rivals. While De La Salle and SRV battled it out on the diamond, fans of both teams kept the stands rocking with loud cheers and a little bit of friendly trash talk.

But in the end it was De La Salle that came out on top, dominating on both sides of the ball to cruise to an 11-0 victory on the road.

De La Salle senior Joe McGee and sophomore Tyler Spangler each had a home run. Graham Schlicht pitched a two-hitter in five innings and struck out six.

“This game was really important to us,” Spangler said. “ With SRV being our rivals, we just wanted to play a great game.”

De La Salle's Joe McGee (8) hits a three-run home run against San Ramon Valley at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, Calif., on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) — De La Salle’s Joe McGee (8) hits a three-run home run against San Ramon Valley at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, Calif., on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

De La Salle got on the board first when Sean Stafford brought home Jamie Mullin on an RBI single to put the Spartans up 1-0 in the second inning.

The Concord school put up two runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead after five, but De La Salle put the game away for good in the sixth.

After Mullin got on base with a lead-off double, senior Jack Harper got him across home plate on a line-drive single to right field. Three at-bats later, McGee hit the second pitch thrown to him and crushed a three-run homer that sailed yards over the right field wall to put the Spartans up 8-0.

“I kind of just sat there and saw the first pitch’s location and knew I just needed to make contact,” McGee said about the home run. “I just had to put a nice easy swing on it.”

De La Salle continued to rack up runs in the seventh, putting up a three-spot while subbing in most of its young players who were sitting on the bench.

Lorenzo Solares knocked in Mullin on an RBI double that rolled along the left field foul line. Later in the seventh, Max Ghiglieri scored sophomore Brandon Vargas to give De La Salle its biggest lead of the afternoon at 11-0.

Defensively, De La Salle kept the usually high-scoring Wolves in check. Schlicht, Trent Cacciola and Tommy Curran combined to give up just three hits. Spartan fielders did not commit an error and had six assists.

“The defense was amazing,” Schlicht said. “My guys just had my back the whole time. I just had confidence in them that they could always just back me up. They really got me through this game.”

Wednesday’s win marks the Spartans’ fourth in a row where they scored in double figures. Over the last five games De La Salle has scored 89 runs and has given up eight.

“You have to give credit to the kids,” said De La Salle coach David Jeans. “They work really hard on their hitting. They try not to get too big. It’s just been a process and the kids have really just bought into it.”

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