Guerra does the math in Pacifics’ win with three doubles

Kyle Guerra doubled three times and drove in two runs as San Rafael earned a 13-6 road victory over the Bakersfield Train Robbers on Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Pecos League Pacific Division.

Guerra was 4-for-6 and scored three runs for first-place San Rafael (25-10), which put two runs on the board in the first inning when Aki Buckson, Guerra and John Bicos led off the game with three straight doubles.

Aki Buckson was 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and four runs. Fred Buckson was 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Richard Kiel pitched a steady game, with two strikeouts and two walks, while allowing two earned runs on 10 hits as he went the distance for the win.

The Pacifics lost the first two games of the three-game road series in Bakersfield (20-14). San Rafael hosts Martinez (17-16) for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Friday at Albert Park.

Water polo

Stanford’s Ella Woodhead, an alumnus of Sleepy Hollow Aquatics, joins Team USA in Perth, Australia, on Friday for the Tri-Nations Women’s Water Polo Test Series as they continue preparations for the 2025 World Aquatic Championships.

Meanwhile, Archie Williams (Drake High) and Stanford University grad Dylan Woodhead was named to the Team USA Men’s Senior roster for the 2025 World Aquatic Championships.

Little League

Cyrus Bentaleb, Gabe Oliveros, and Kingston Jepma combined to throw a four-hitter lifting the Novato North majors Little League team to a 6-0 win against San Francisco American in the elimination bracket finals on Thursday.

Novato North moves into the championship game against longtime rival Twin Cities at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Joe Wagner Field in Larkspur. Novato North would need to win Saturday to force a winner-take-all game Sunday in the double elimination format. Twin Cities claims the title with a win Saturday.

Atreyu Jacobs scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the second to put Novato North ahead 1-0 against San Francisco American then Kingston Jepma hit a sacrifice fly to score Aidan Capurro.

Novato North extended to a 4-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI single by Ian Bowman and a bases-loaded walk by Jacobs.

Bentaleb had two hits, walked, drove in a run, and scored twice for Novato North.

Twin Cities defeated Novato North 4-2 last Sunday while both teams were still in the winners’ bracket.

• Dante Benedetti hit two doubles and drove in three runs to lead the Novato South 11s to a 6-2 victory over Twin Cities in the elimination bracket final on Thursday. Novato South’s win sets up a crosstown rivalry title game against Novato North at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Joe Wagner Field. Novato South needs a win Saturday to force a deciding game Sunday in the double-elimination final. Twin Cities jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning but Novato South scored four times in the top of the third inning.  Finnegan McCall, Xavier Eaton, and Blake Mathews had RBIs in the game for Novato South. Desmond Evans pitched five innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory, allowing four hits and striking out five.

• The Twin Cities 9-10s Little League team scored 12 times in the bottom of the first inning to defeat West Marin 18-1 on Thursday, earning a spot in the tournament’s championship game.

Twin Cities is set to face Ross Valley for the title at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Joe Wagner Field. Ross Valley takes the title with a win Saturday while Twin Cities needs a victory Saturday to force a winner-take-all game Sunday in the double-elimination format.

Hunter Coghlan had two hits, three RBIs, and scored twice to pace Twin Cities offensively. Leo Storan, Beau Sternberg, Vaughn Johnson, and Zeke Reiter all had two hits. Reiter, Ethan Bennett, and Beau Leibick drove in two runs each for Twin Cities.

Saturday’s game is a rematch of Wednesday’s winners’ bracket finale, which was won 5-3 by Ross Valley.