The high school baseball matchup that has been anticipated for years is finally a reality: De La Salle vs. Valley Christian. The North Coast Section’s top program vs. the Central Coast Section’s top program.

De La Salle, winner of 29 consecutive postseason games dating to 2016, against Valley Christian, winner of five of the past six championships in the CCS’s top division.

The stakes couldn’t be higher.

When the teams meet today at Valley Christian, they will play for the Northern California Division I regional title. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

De La Salle is the defending champion, having rallied at home in Concord for four runs in the final inning last June to beat St. Francis 7-6.

St. Francis had defeated Valley Christian in the semifinals.

Thursday, both De La Salle and Valley Christian were pushed to the brink but survived to set up today’s season-ending dream matchup.

Top-seeded Valley Christian, playing at home in San Jose, held off Cardinal Newman 2-1 behind pitchers Michael Castaneda and Alec Belardes and strong defense as the Warriors improved to 31-3.

In Concord, Tanner Griffith’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning ended an epic semifinal as De La Salle outlasted Franklin-Elk Grove 6-5.

Both finalists are led by veteran coaches, John Diatte at Valley and David Jeans at De La Salle. Diatte is in his 34th season, Jeans is in his 12th.

“David does a great job with his club,” Diatte said. “Obviously, over the last couple of years, they’ve been the team in Northern California. We’re just happy to be able to play (today). That’s the main thing. That’s a quality team. They’re going to be ready to play, and we’re going to have to bring our best game.”

De La Salle’s RJ Meyn and Castaneda, aces this season for their respective teams, won’t be available to pitch in the final, per pitch count rules. Castaneda threw 66 pitches on Thursday, meaning he’d need two days of rest before being allowed to pitch again. Meyn threw 112 pitches on Thursday, according to stats reported to MaxPreps.

Quinten Marsh, who started and pitched four innings in Valley’s quarterfinal win over Clayton Valley Charter on Tuesday, is available for 18 outs. Belardes, who has had two two-inning relief appearances this week, is also available for 18 outs. Valley could also turn to Jacob Hudson, who pitched the final inning against Clayton Valley, or someone else on its staff.

De La Salle (26-5) is in a similar situation.

Jack Hershey, who pitched six innings in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, can pitch up to 12 outs in the final. Jack Karst, who worked one inning in the quarters, and Cal Randall, who pitched 2 2/3 innings on Thursday, are available for numerous innings if needed.

The game today will be the first between De La Salle and Valley Christian in 13 years. Valley is 4-2 against DLS in the MaxPreps era, which began in the 2004-05 school year.

The NorCal regionals were supposed to start in 2021 but were delayed because of the pandemic.

Division II

St. Ignatius vs. Casa Grande: The good news for St. Ignatius is the San Francisco school used just two pitchers to advance through two regional rounds this week to reach the Division II championship game today at Casa Grande of Petaluma.

Staff ace Jackson Short pitched a complete game in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Granite Bay on Tuesday. Freshman Chase Gordon followed with a complete game on Thursday as fourth-seeded SI defeated No. 8 seed Bellarmine 5-1 in the semifinals.

Per pitch count rules, Gordon is unavailable for the final. Short, a senior, could give the Wildcats up to nine outs before hitting the 30 outs per week maximum.

The rest of SI’s staff should be well rested. Among those pitchers, freshman Archer Horn (36 1/3), senior Niko Gomozias (34) and sophomore Beau Schaffer (24) have pitched the most innings.

Softball

Division I: St. Francis at Hollister, 4 p.m.: St. Francis didn’t have to wait very long for a chance at revenge.

Exactly one week after Hollister stunned St. Francis 4-0 in the Central Coast Section Open Division title game, the Mountain View school will get a shot at retribution today.

This time, No. 2 seed St. Francis will travel to top-seeded Hollister for the NorCal Division I championship.

“I’m pumped and ready for it,” said St. Francis junior Kate Munnerlyn, whose team won the NorCal Division I title last season. “We want that redemption.”

These are undoubtedly the best teams in the region.

St. Francis enters today with a 28-3 record and a run differential of 209. Hollister is 29-3 and has outscored opponents by 188 runs.

St. Francis defeated Hollister 10-2 in the regular season, but a resilient Haybalers team switched things up in the final.

“It’ll be time to do it again at our park,” Hollister senior Laila Rueda said about a possible rematch after the CCS title game.

Following their first shutout loss to a CCS opponent since 2019, the Lancers run-ruled San Ramon Valley 10-0 in five innings on Tuesday before winning a nine-inning thriller against Central-Fresno on Thursday.

“We know what to expect going into it, so we’ll be ready, for sure,” said Rebecca Quinn, who sent St. Francis to the title game with a walk-off single in the ninth inning against Central-Fresno.

Hollister defeated Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills 2-0 in the first round and then hung on for a 3-2 victory over Whitney-Rocklin.

St. Francis has two ace pitchers in Kate Munnerlyn and Shannon Keighran, who have combined to strike out more than 300 batters.

Division II: Notre Dame-Salinas at Willow Glen, 4 p.m.: One of the youngest players in the NorCal Division II title game between Willow Glen and Notre Dame-Salinas will arguably be its best this afternoon.

After starting the season as part of a freshman pitching duo, fireballing righthander Alanna Clincy has taken over as Willow Glen’s top starter, pitching at least five innings in the past nine Willow Glen games, seven of those victories.

Clincy has 174 strikeouts, and allowed four total hits in NorCal wins over Casa Grande and Bullard, a game deemed the biggest in program history.

That set up a rematch between the Rams and Notre Dame, a game Willow Glen won 7-5 in the regular season.

North Salinas at Live Oak, 2 p.m.: Live Oak ended the regular season 10-11 and seventh in the BVAL-Mt. Hamilton Division standings.

Today, the Acorns (14-11) have an opportunity to finish the year in Morgan Hill as NorCal Division V champions with a win over North Salinas (15-12).

Live Oak defeated Pacific Grove 4-0 in the CCS Division IV title game, earned a No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in NorCal, and run-ruled Los Molinos 10-0 in Thursday’s semifinal.

No. 2 seed North Salinas run-ruled California School for the Deaf and Stone Ridge Christian-Sacramento to reach the title game.