Verrado and Notre Dame Prep players share a few moments in support of Verrado's loss of teammate Bryan McKinsey prior to Verrado's 13-3 win over the Saints.

Verrado's baseball team has gone through a hellish two days dealing with the death of teammate Bryan McKinsey. The way the Vipers responded on the field was something to behold.

No. 2 Verrado scored seven times in the first inning and never let No. 6 Notre Dame Prep off the floor in recording a 13-3 win in five innings at Diablo Stadium. Verrado will play in the title game on Tuesday May 15 at 4 p.m. against Liberty, which eliminated Mesquite in Thursday's late game, 4-3.

"I know our jaws hit the floor yesterday when we heard," Verrado coach Mike Ward said. "I hope no other team has to experience what we have. ...

"I think we were inspired. Notre Dame hung a No. 6 jersey in their dugout and we had Bryan's hanging in ours. What these kids did the first inning was special. Bryan McKinsey meant a lot to all our players. Verrado is family. We've had a lot of people rally around us. It's what family is and what family does."

Verrado sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and began the game turning a double play to speed up the top of the first. Verrado collected eight of its 14 hits in the first inning- two hits each from Hayden Brown and Brady Bulger. No. 8 hitter Chad Berger doubled in two runs and No. 9 hitter Dominick Cassell. Dominic Demarbiex was Verrado's top hitter going 4-for-4 with 2 RBI.

Ward was complementary of Notre Dame and how it reached out prior to at the game with support. 

"Their program is nothing but class," Ward said. "They asked if they could come over and pray with our guys before the game, and I didn't hesitate." 

Verrado will bring a 19-game winning streak to the championship game - the first in school history in baseball.

LIBERTY 4, MESQUITE 3: The fourth-seeded Lions staved off a rally by the top-seeded Wildcats in the top of the seventh to advance to the championship game. It will be Liberty's fourth title-game appearance this decade. The Lions won it at the 4A-II level in 2010 and were runners-up in 2012 in D-II and 2015 in D-I.

Liberty's offense boiled down to a pair of hits - a two-run single in the third inning by Brady Welch and a two-run, pinch-hit double in the sixth by Isaiah Montoya which proved cirtical. 

Mesquite was tamed during the first six innings by Liberty starter Chandler Murphy. Murphy managed to go 6 1/3 innings and surrendered only one run through six frames.

Mesquite collected one-out singles off Miurphy in the seventh and that prompted a pitching change. JD Wadleigh relieved and hit Grant Gorrell with a pitch to load the bases. Willie Cano's sacrifice fly made it 4-2 and a Davis Heller double scored another leaving runners at second and third for TJ Clarkson. Clarkson flied to center to end the game.