CASTRO VALLEY — The Castro Valley High softball team clinched the Hayward Area Athletic League outright title for the third straight season on Thursday with a 10-0 win over San Leandro.

The Trojans, who are in line to garner their first North Coast Section 3-A East Bay No.1 seed, have a chance to go undefeated in league play for the second time in the past three years.

Castro Valley (19-3, 14-0 HAAL) will finish the regular season with Mt. Eden and San Lorenzo next week. Should the Trojans win out, they will be a strong candidate for the top seed in the NCS 3-A East Bay field.

Freedom, the other candidate for the top seed, lost 7-4 to Clayton Valley on Thursday. Castro Valley split with the Falcons (20-2) this year, but Freedom's latest loss should lock up the No.1 spot for the Trojans.

"We will not be disappointed if we aren't the No.1 seed," Trojans coach Melanie Alkire said. "We definitely won some really good games this year, but whatever happens happens. Regardless, we will be playing good teams so it doesn't really matter."

The Trojans, who had a minor scare in the win over Tennyson on Tuesday, put the game away early on Thursday. Castro Valley scored five runs in the first inning and led 8-0 through three innings.

Jessica Lemmon got the win and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Mariah Cameron went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, as the Trojans had 13 hits in all.

Brittany Niisang went 1-for-2 to lead San Leandro (7-13, 6-8).

Advertisement