Mission Prep falls 6-5 in Sunset League finale; Atascadero boys volleyball takes CIF title

On the last day of the regular high school baseball season, fighting for first place in the Sunset League, Mission Prep and Pioneer Valley found themselves locked in a fierce extra-inning battle Friday.

Down 5-4 in the seventh on the road, Mission Prep rallied to tie up the game on a clutch double by shortstop Hunter Drake, who drove in Thomas Glenn, who had led off the inning with a line-drive single.

Then Glenn held the fort over the next four innings, pitching a scoreless bottom of the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth.

Mission Prep fans were irritated by a number of close calls that didn’t go the Royals’ way and let the umpires hear their displeasure — a bang-bang play at first, a pitch call that appeared to be a third strike that was called a ball, and a pickoff tag.

But as the scoreless stretch dragged on, the Royals held their ground, locked in a 5-5 tie, with Glenn pumping in strike after strike and keeping the Panthers at Bay. Glenn was removed going into the 11th because he was almost at his 110-pitch limit according to CIF rules, said Royals Coach Elliot Stewart.

It wasn’t until the 11th when Pioneer Valley led off with a walk against Drake, who came on in relief, and advanced to third on a sacrifice with missed coverage at third. A Panthers sacrifice fly then brought home the winning run, and Pioneer Valley celebrated in front of their home fans in a 6-5 victory.

“I’m just really proud of our guys for showing up today, giving it everything for three hours 11 innings,” said Stewart. “They did an unbelievable job, battling against a great team. We had to do it on the mound for four or five innings. Their pitcher was tough to hit. We tied it up off him. I’m proud of our guys for doing that and just staying in the game.”

The Royals (16-10, 8-4) finished tied for second in the league as Lompoc took the top spot at 9-3. Mission Prep and Pioneer Valley both ended 8-4 on the year in a close race to the finish.

“I felt good about the way we played,” said Glenn, a sophomore committed to play baseball at Cal Berkeley. “It gets us ready for next week (in playoffs). Obviously like we didn’t come out on top today, but it’s learning lesson for us.”

Glenn said he thinks the Royals can match up with anyone on the Central Coast and in the region.

“I think we’ve probably had the best lineup in the whole Central Section,” Glenn said. “That’s what I truly think. All 15 to 16 guys on our team, they all can compete and battle. Yeah. So I’m pretty confident in our chances every game.”

Glenn, who has launched five home runs and tallied 26 RBI, batting. 367 on the season with nine doubles, said he adjusts his approach at the plate depending on the pitcher.

“The faster the pitching is, I try and pull the ball, so I hit it right up the middle if I’m a little late,” Glenn said. “But if the pitching is slower, I try and go to the opposite field.”

Glenn was 2-for-5 in the contest Friday, with third baseman Sean Rivas, who is hitting .429 with 24 plate appearances, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Drake, who’s hitting .310 on the season in 82 at-bats, had the clutch hit to tie up the contest, a line-drive double to left.

“I was very exciting,” Drake said. “I’ve been struggling a little recently. I just made an adjustment to kind of hit up the middle...I think we performed way better as a team than we were projected to this season and that makes me really happy.”

The Royals move on to play in the CIF-Central Section playoffs on Tuesday, along with other local teams, but they haven’t found out the schedule and postseason seedings yet.

“I guess we’ll see,” Stewart said. “Wherever we end up, we’ll be ready to go.”

Atascadero boys volleyball takes CIF, Greyhounds boys golf win CCAA

The No. 2 Atascadero High boys volleyball team (18-8, 8-2 Sunset) won the CIF-Central Section Division 3 championship on Thursday, beating No. 4 Paso Robles 3-0.

“When we began the boys volleyball program at AHS two years ago, this was the season I had circled on the calendar,” said Coach James Silva. “We had a big group of sophomores, so I knew that when they were seniors we would have a group that had the talent and experience to do something special.”

Silva said that over the past two years the team lost a few players but added some key contributors, notably David Lines, a foreign exchange student from Norway who had significant volleyball experience.

In addition to the CIF championship, the Greyhounds squad also won the Sunset League title.

“With the group we had, I believed we probably had the most talented team in our league, but, of course, talent isn’t everything,” Silva said. “As is so often the case, the path to our goal of league champs wasn’t a straight line. We dropped our very first league contest to our rival, Paso Robles, when we suffered an injury in the fourth set and weren’t able to rally.”

Silva said that loss “hurt because we believed we were capable of going unbeaten in league, but we were 0-1.”

The Greyhounds put together a string of wins, however, and avenged the league league loss against the Bearcats on April 22 and capped off their rivalry with the CIF title win against their North County opponent.

“Not one of the matches was a gimme,” Silva said. “And it seemed like every night it was someone else’s turn to step up and carry the team to victory.”

Atascadero outside hitter, senior Mason Degnan, led the team with regular-season kills with 155 and took the most service receptions, as well as posted the most assists for a non-setter.

Junior Parker Woods (setter/opposite) led the team during the regular season with hitting a percentage 0.306. And Lines (outside hitter) was the highest rated passer on the team during the regular season, who “was pushing Mason and Parker in the hitting categories,” Silva said.

“As with any team sport, this season was great because we played well as a team,” Silva said. “Every guy had his moment when we needed him to come up big, and he answered. We graduate seven seniors this year, many of whom it is their third year with this team.”

Silva said the Greyhounds have come far as a program, from the 2021 season where they were 1-25 and ranked dead last in the Central Section, to league and CIF champs.

In the postseason, Degnan led the team in kills with 44 and in digs with 32. Skylar Martin led the team in blocks with 13. Kasen Betschart, a sophomore setter, led the team in assists with 64, and Parker Woods led the team in hitting percentage with .351. Woods had the final point “with a big overpass kill.” Silva said.

Silva gave credit to Paso Robles for being a fierce opponent, not just this year, but over the past two years.

“You couldn’t have asked for anything more than playing them in the finals at home in front of a packed gym,” Sil

Additionally, Atascadero’s boys golf were 2024 CCAA League Champions. The team included MVP Wesley Thomas and first team members Luke Rogers, Vincent McDonald, Nathan Schalck and Evan Ladd. Griffin Graves was honorable mention.