CCS D-III baseball quarterfinals: Soquel vs. Menlo (controversial ending)
Soquel ace Chris Viall Ks career-best 16 batters
Santa Cruz golfer McElyea, USF Dons are headed to Ohio for regionals
University of San Francisco, which features Harbor High alum Cory McElyea, was awarded the No. 10 seed at the NCAA Columbus Region. The 54-hole event is May 16-18 at Ohio State’s Scarlett Course.
The Dons are making their third straight regional appearance and fifth overall.
The Dons will be joined in the field by (according to seed) New Mexico, Stanford, Auburn, South Carolina, Missouri, UNLV Texas Tech, Chattanooga, Georgia Southern, Virdinia, Charlotte and Valparaiso.
Teams earning top seeds in the other regionals are Cal (Pullman, Wash.), Alabama (Baton Rouge), UCLA (Tempe, Ariz.), Texas (Fayetteville, Ark.) and Washington (Tallahassee, Fla.).
The low five teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships on May 28-June 2, at The Capital City Club and Crabapple Course in Atlanta.
JC baseball: Cabrillo stuns San Mateo, advances to Super Regional
SCCAL baseball: St. Francis edges Soquel for regular-season title
Padres return Erlin to Triple-A Tucson after solid outing
Scotts Valley High alum Robbie Erlin shined for the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night in his second MLB relief appearance. After the game, a 6-2 loss to the Cubs, the 22-year-old was sent back to the minor leagues.
Erlin returns to Triple-A Tucson. His promotion April 24 was expected to be temporary since the starter was promoted to spell relief for a taxed bullpen.
Erlin’s return to the minors was reported by UT San Diego’s Bill Center, who noted right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger has been promoted from Tucson and is expected to arrive in time for Thursday afternoon’s finale to the four-game series against the Cubs.
Erlin was roughed up in his MLB debut Tuesday night, but the rookie left-hander bounced back with a shutout inning in relief Wednesday.
Erlin sandwiched a strikeout of Julio Borbon on Wednesday — his first in the MLB — with groundouts from David DeJesus and Luis Valbuena in the bottom of the eighth inning. With his 1-2-3 inning, he lowered his ERA to 9.00.
When I spoke with Erlin after his debut Tuesday night – when he allowed three hits and two runs in a 13-7 win — he mention his desire to get ahead of hitters.
“Lesson learned,” he said of his debut.
Well, looks like he applied what he learned. He threw just 12 pitches in the inning and nine went for strikes.
