This time, there was no need for a comeback.

Having traveled nearly 250 miles for this CIF Northern California Division IV baseball semifinal, third-seeded Santa Clara took command with three runs in the first and senior pitcher Drew Diffenderfer did the rest.

Two days after overcoming a five-run deficit to edge Oakland Tech in walk-off fashion, Santa Clara rolled past second-seeded West Valley of Cottonwood 6-0 to advance to the final on Saturday.

Diffenderfer needed 81 pitches to finish a complete-game gem. He struck out five, allowed five hits and walked none.

Jaxton Chao had three hits, drove in two runs and scored once and Connor Houle had two hits, including a double, knocked in a run and scored twice for Santa Clara (29-3).

Dominick Chavarria also had two hits for the Bruins, w

See Full Page