Coach Felipe Castellanos had a plan for a Live Oak baseball rebound after two years of struggles. It was challenging. And it worked to perfection.
A hard pre-season schedule dented the overall record but the young Live Oak hardballers learned and grew. Down the stretch of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Santa Teresa Division schedule, they were firing on all cylinders.
Behind a stellar pitching staff paced by crafty lefty Austin Meads and his sparkling 2.68 ERA and a strong and deep offense led by catcher Noah Baquiran, who hit an amazing .506, Live Oak rose to the top.
The Acorns capped off league play with a seven-game win streak, highlighted by two-game sweeps of fellow title contenders Leland and Lincoln. That brought them to an 11-3 record and first place, via a tiebreaker over 11-3 Sobrato.
“The team was really young this year. I put a tough preseason schedule in to get us ready to win league,” coach Castellanos said. “We took our lumps and lost a lot of close games, but the boys continued to get better, learned from their previous mistakes, and we got hot at the right time of the season.”
The Acorns were just 3-6-1 in the pre-season. They started league play well, 4-3 at the midpoint, yet trailing 6-1 Sobrato and 5-2 Lincoln. Then they hit the accelerator in a turbo drive to the finish. From April 24 to May 13, they defeated Gilroy, Oak Grove twice, Leland twice and Lincoln twice.
Live Oak and Sobrato each finished 11-3 but LO won the tiebreaker with a better record against the top teams, splitting with the Bulldogs and going 4-0 against Leland and Lincoln. Coach Castellanos’ plan had worked superbly.
“Having that harder preseason schedule really set us up for success,” Baquiran said.
There were many dangerous weapons in the offensive arsenal. Baquiran had 42 hits in 83 at-bats, scored 19, and had four homers and 28 RBIs. He had a .613 on-base percentage and a .916 slugging percentage, and led the league in batting average, homers and slugging.
Nathan Bergstrom hit .367 with 22 runs and 11 steals, Brody Costa was at .348 with 16 RBIs and nine steals and Jack Rice hit .347 with 23 RBIs.
On the mound, Meads was phenomenal in 75.1 innings. Costa threw 27.2 innings and had a 4.05 ERA, Will Habina tossed 17.2 frames with a 3.57 mark and Lozano contributed 16 innings from the bump with a 2.62 ERA.
Lozano, usually at shortstop, and utility player Spencer Westfield were the only two seniors who played extensively. The youthful Acorns received big contributions from freshmen Costa and Adrian Torres, sophomores Rice, Bergstrom, Devon Bieganski and Enzo Castellanos and juniors Baquiran, Habina and Meads.
League honors were plenty. Meads was named co-Pitcher of the Year. Rice was Sophomore of the Year. Lozano, Costa and Bergstrom received First Team All-League plaudits. Westfield and Castellanos were named to the Second Team and Torres received Honorable Mention.
“The younger players improved tremendously throughout the season,” Lozano said. “Our challenging preseason schedule helped prepare us for league play, and everyone bought into the team’s goals.”
The early slate included Mt. Hamilton Division programs Willow Glen and Branham, along with Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton. Live Oak began to jell as the league season began. In a split with Sobrato, each won a 4-3 decision on the other’s field.
In the victory, Costa went 2-for-3 and Baquiran, Rice and Castellanos each knocked in a run. Rice threw six solid innings, and Lozano closed the door by shutting out the Bulldogs in the seventh.
The Acorn train really began to roll in the second half of the league season. They beat Gilroy 8-5, overcoming an early 5-0 deficit. Westfield shined with two hits and four RBIs. Bergstrom and Enzo Castellanos each had two hits and Baquiran belted a homer.
Meads threw a complete-game four-hitter in a 7-1 win over Oak Grove on April 29. Two days later, the Acorns won a 7-6 10-inning barnburner over the Eagles. Baquiran ripped four hits, including three doubles, while driving in three. Torres, Bergstrom and Rose each had two hits.
Meads dominated Leland with a complete-game three-hit, seven-strikeout shutout in a 2-0 win. Rice hit two doubles and knocked in both runs.
In the rematch at home, LO cruised to an 11-2 rout. Rice hurled six strong innings and Rice, Westfield and Bergstrom each had two hits.
The wild day at Lincoln on May 11 was perhaps the game of the year. LO blew a big lead and found itself down 12-11 entering the top of the seventh. But they rallied with three runs for the win.
Bergstrom stole four bases and scored three times. Lozano had four hits and three RBIs and Rice had three and three.
The Lions had no roar left two days later as the Acorns demolished them 12-2 in a five-inning run-rule game. Rice shined on the mound and had three hits. Bergstrom and Lozano each had two base-knocks.
The regular season concluded and Live Oak entered the CCS Division V playoffs. In a quarterfinal donnybrook against St. Francis of Watsonville, they pounded out 14 hits but errors dogged them in a 9-7 loss. Baquiran and Bergstrom each had three hits. It was a tough defeat, but the season had re-established the baseball program’s winning history.
Three stellar years from 2021 to 2023, led by star pitcher Landon Stump, at UCLA three years and now at Mississippi State, had produced a 53-23 record, with a 34-11 league mark and three titles. But the Acorns took a step back with an 18-33 record the last two years. That all changed in the spring of 2026. Back on top.
Lozano likes the potential of the Acorns who will carry the program forward. Of the 11 players who saw action in 17 or more games, nine will return. A total of 12 from the varsity roster are underclassmen.
“Watching the group grow and earn promotion to the ‘A League’ was a great way to finish my senior year,” Lozano said.
The plan worked. A fantastic year and bright days ahead.
“I am looking forward to this upcoming season with the experience the boys got last year to get us ready for the ‘A League’,” coach Castellanos said.
Matt Baquiran contributed reporting to this story.
