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Turlock's Booz signs with Warrior baseball
Brandon Booz
Recent Turlock High graduate Brandon Booz signs with the Stanislaus State Warriors baseball team to compete at the collegiate level. - photo by Photo Contributed

Brandon Booz has always wanted to play college baseball.

Back on June 30, that dream became reality after the recent Turlock High graduate signed with the Stanislaus State baseball team on a scholarship to compete for his home town college.

“My goal has always been to play college baseball and when I had to decide which sport I'd play at the next level, choosing baseball was an easy decision,” said Booz. “I thought Stanislaus would be a great place to play because it is in my home town and I still get the opportunity to play baseball at a high competitive level.”

While baseball was his first love, Booz also flourished in football becoming one of the best running backs in the Central California Conference.

“I definitely had thoughts of playing football in college but not until my senior year,” said Booz.

During his two years in varsity football at Turlock, the Bulldogs went 8-2 and made the playoffs both years. The team also beat Pitman in two epic showdowns in back-to-back years for the first time.

“I didn't really put any effort into the recruiting process for football,” said Booz. “I never thought I would get the opportunity to play football in college because I was so focused on baseball my whole life. The only recruiting I received for football was from junior colleges.”

Booz decided to hang his football cleats up after a stellar senior season where he rushed the ball 118 times and for 767 yards and scored five touchdowns.

Booz will be joining a Warriors baseball team that went 25-23 overall and 16-20 in conference and has three former Bulldogs on the team for next year’s roster.

Nick Voumard, Tyler Murphy and Gavin Gaffaney are all former Turlock Bulldogs and should welcome Booz in with open arms, having played for THS coach Mark de la Motte as well.

During his two years playing baseball, the Bulldogs went a combined 35-21 and in the CCC went 24-6.

As a junior, Booz batted .444 in 28 games and had 28 RBI on 40 hits. Booz also went on a nine and six game hitting streak during that year and added four homeruns.

As a senior during the 2016 season, Booz led the Bulldogs to a CCC title and batted .360 after playing in all 27 games for Turlock. He also went on two six-game hitting streaks during the year and finished with 27 hits and 13 RBI.

Defensively, Booz was just as good, finishing with 143 put outs and a fielding percentage of .987.

“Playing college baseball has been a goal of mine since I was a young kid and I am very excited that I get to play four more years of it,” said Booz. “I just want to be able to help the team win. I'll play wherever they need me to play as long as I am contributing to the team.”