San Jose Hangs on (Barely) to Advance to Cal League Finals

SF Giants Minor Lines, September 11, 2025

Photo Credit: Shelly Valenzuela | San Jose Giants

It wasn’t easy by any measure. It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t neat. It didn’t go to plan. And in a couple of critical moments, it was something of a disaster-strewn mess. But if you wanted excitement, tension, and, ultimately, delirium, Excite Ballpark was the place to be for last night’s trilling 7-6 clincher that sent San Jose to the Cal League finals.

For myself, I was some 3,000 miles away enjoying another pretty exciting finale — though without anything like the same stakes — taking in what may well go down in the record books as the final walk-off victory in the 40-year history of The Diamond.

HITTER of the NIGHT: Lorenzo Meola (SJ), 2 for 4, 2b, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
PITCHER of the NIGHT: John Michael Bertrand (Sac), 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K
RELIEF PITCHER of the NIGHT: Will Bednar (Rich): 6 batters, 6 Ks

Recent “In the Dugout” guest, Will Bednar, earns a special designation this morning for just being so danged awesome! We’ll get to that in time, but first up, we’ve got a little survive and advance work to talk about: