SAN JOSE, CA -- It was a performance Blackbeard or Captain Kidd could appreciate.
Piedmont Hills, striking quickly and ruthlessly, defeated Pioneer 10-0 in five innings Saturday to win the CCS Division I baseball title.
Like any buccaneers worth their salt, the 16th-seeded Pirates didn't mess around, scoring four times in the first inning on four hits, a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch and an error. That was more than enough for these modern-day bucs to earn the school's first section title.
"We knew we were good, but we hadn't played a complete game in a while," Pirates coach Bill Kennedy said. "To play three or four complete games and then to bust one like this against a real good Pioneer team -- it can't be any more satisfying than this."
Maybe it was the Grand Slam breakfasts. The Pirates ate at Denny's Saturday morning, but by 4 p.m. were hungry again. They tore into Pioneer in the bottom of the first like ravenous lions going after a pack of wildebeest.
Jordan Leffler, the hero of Piedmont Hills' tense 11-8 semifinal win against Milpitas, led off with a solid single to left field. He was bunted to second by Jacob Pangelina. Then the Pirates in succession got a run-scoring double by pitcher Cameron Castaneda, an RBI single by Evan Williamson, a double to left from Dominik Pedraza and an RBI single by John Kelly.
Avast ye matey! Just like that the Pirates were off and running and Castaneda was well on his way to a 4-for-4 effort at the plate with three runs batted in and a four-hitter on the mound.
"It was just confidence," Castaneda said. "During the season we weren't a big-hitting team, but we just caught fire at the right time. At the end of the season we had to win four games to make it to CCS, so it was like we were in the playoffs before the playoffs even started."
After extending their lead to 5-0 on an RBI double by Castaneda in the second, the Pirates added three runs in the fourth on singles by Pangelina and Castaneda, a hit batsman, a bases-loaded walk, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly by Daniel Bobias to blow the game at 8-0.
They closed out the scoring in the fifth by taking advantage of a hit batsman, a walk, an RBI double by Castaneda (he had three), two wild pitches and an error. Then Castaneda retired Pioneer in order in the bottom of the fifth, prompting the inevitable dog pile in the middle of the San Jose Municipal Stadium turf.
Before long the Pirate captains were hoisting the first-place team trophy that nearly eluded them Thursday when they were one strike away from losing to Milpitas.
"It's amazing actually," Castaneda said. "It's indescribable. Nothing feels better and I'll never forget this moment. Hopefully we can come back here again, but if not I'll enjoy this for the rest of my life."
Williamson had one of those big hits in the first and was also feeling chipper as his teammates mugged for photos.
"It feels great," he said. "Nobody expected us to come this far. Coming from the No. 16 seed, nobody had done it before.
"We just wanted to be aggressive (in the first inning). We knew they had their second guy up there because they had just thrown their ace. We wanted to be aggressive and hit the ball all over the place and score early."
Done, done and done.
"They came out swinging," Pioneer coach Jake Hernandez said of Piedmont Hills. "They put a four-spot on the board early. Pitching and defense have been our strengths. Hitting-wise we've tried to scrap some stuff together -- that's been our M.O. But we didn't have a chance. They got that big lead and it just wasn't meant to be.
"But I told these guys this is something they'll remember forever (making it to the finals). Not many teams get to this point. There were only six teams playing today out of about 100 teams."
A nice moment for seventh-seed Pioneer came when a throng of fans cheered the team as it walked in the corridor under the stands while leaving the ballpark.
Besides Castaneda's big day, Leffler had two hits for Piedmont Hills (21-7).
Zach Silva, Michael Rojko, Ryan Dalton and Sean Rooney each had a hit for Pioneer (19-12).
