There will be a new North Coast Section and NorCal Division I baseball champion this season.

Defending champ Granada bowed out of the section playoffs on its home field in Livermore on Friday, falling to ninth-seeded Casa Grande 3-2 in a quarterfinal game.

The Petaluma school, which improved to 20-7, moves on to play at fifth-seeded College Park on Tuesday. The season is over for top-seeded Granada (22-6).

It looked like business as usual for the Matadors in the first inning as they opened a 2-0 lead. But Casa Grande, the NCS’s Division II champion in 2023, cut the margin in half with a run in the second. Then Granada’s defense went sideways. The Matadors had four errors in the third inning, leading to two Casa Grande runs, and senior Danny Mercado made the slim margin stand up.

He pitched a complete game, striking out eight while scattering seven hits and two walks. After giving up the two first-inning runs, Mercado was lights out as the 5-foot-11,185-pound pitcher retired the final seven Granada batters. In the bottom of the seventh, he struck out the first batter, retired the next on a groundout and then ended the game with another strikeout.

Granada opened the playoffs on Tuesday with a 5-2 victory over San Ramon Valley and quickly took charge Friday.

A wild pitch brought in Granada’s first run and Estevan Duarte’s single — one of the senior’s three hits — drove in Peyton Richards to make it 2-0. But that was all the offense Granada generated.

No. 2 De La Salle 15, No. 7 Petaluma 0: The host Spartans needed only 4 1/2 innings to advance to the semifinals as Alec Blair and Jacob Gray each went 3 for 3 with three RBIs and Roman Bartosh allowed one hit and struck out eight while pitching a complete game to lead the way in a run-rule result. De La Salle, which has won 29 of its past 30 NCS playoff games dating to 2016, will play host to Foothill on Tuesday in the semifinals.

No. 3 Foothill 10, No. 6 Benicia 4: Foothill broke the game open with a six-run fourth inning and went on to a win. Benicia scored a run in the top of the first without the benefit of a hit. Foothill responded with two in the bottom half, taking advantage of two walks and three Benicia errors.

The score remained 2-1 until the fourth when Foothill sent 10 batters to the plate. Tanner Tarpley brought home the first run in the inning, drawing a bases-loaded walk. Landon Comerford singled home a run. Hudson Flora hit a sacrifice fly and freshman shortstop Aiden Tavares doubled home two runs to cap the outburst.

“They got up early, we ignored the noise and then we pounded them,” Foothill coach Zeke Palma said. “We do what we do.”

— Glenn Reeves

No. 5 College Park 4, No. 13 Clayton Valley Charter 1: Sebastian Alvarez allowed one run in six innings and Connor Berkowitz, Trent “TJ” Lanza and Dante Nishizawa each knocked in a run as College Park prevailed over Clayton Valley in a matchup between Diablo Athletic League teams. The Falcons (16-10) advance to play at home Tuesday against Casa Grande. Clayton Valley finished the season 18-8.

Division III

No. 1 California 4, No. 9 Washington-Fremont 0: Ryan Giffins and Ryken Redondo combined on a three-hitter and Logan Kellogg had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs as California beat Washington to advance to the semifinals. The Grizzlies (14-11) will be at home on Tuesday to face 12th-seeded Freedom. Washington finished 15-11.

No. 12 Freedom 2, No. 4 El Cerrito 0: Caleb Emmons pitched a four-hitter and Colton Vick and Devan Carmignani each drove in a run to lead the Falcons to an upset victory at El Cerrito. The Falcons improved to 14-12. El Cerrito finished 20-8.

No. 10 Northgate 5, No. 2 Piedmont 0: Nate Luehs struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings and also doubled and knocked in a run to lead Northgate to its second consecutive upset victory this week. Christopher Flores doubled and drove in a run as well for the Broncos (18-7), who will travel to sixth-seeded Marin Catholic on Tuesday. Piedmont finished 16-10.

SOFTBALL Division I

No. 1 Liberty 11, No. 9 San Marin 4: Liberty trailed San Marin 2-1 going into the bottom of the second inning, but the Lions (21-4) equalized in the bottom of the frame and never looked back. Liberty took a 3-2 lead in the fourth, then pulled away with five in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Junior Isabella Rice drove in three runs for the Lions. Senior Isabel Mercado, sophomore Jewel Cooper and sophomore Taylor Jennings each batted in two runs for Liberty, which will play host to Foothill in the semifinals on Wednesday.

No. 13 Foothill 3, No. 5 California 2: Foothill got the big hit in the top of the seventh inning to win this quarterfinal thriller. Leadoff hitter Naima Braham roped a homer to left, giving Foothill (15-8-1) a lead it would not relinquish. Myra Galzie swiftly slammed the door on a potential California (19-9) comeback in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the Grizzlies in order. Brea Olsen drove in the other two runs for Foothill.

Division III

No. 4 Alhambra 2, No. 12 Berkeley 1: Alhambra survived a scare from Berkeley to advance to the semis at home. The Bulldogs (15-10) scored both their runs in the third inning, as sophomore Hailey Powers had an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch. Senior Willa Adler had a strong effort in the circle, going seven innings and conceding no earned runs. Alhambra will next play host to No. 9 Freedom on Wednesday in Martinez. Freedom upset top-seeded Del Norte 7-4. Berkeley’s season ends at 11-16.