The Turlock High varsity baseball team claimed the 2016 Central California Conference title after a 5-2 win at home on Thursday that was highlighted by an entire team effort including starting pitcher Landon Curtis who tossed a complete game, allowing just a pair of runs on seven hits while striking out four.
“I definitely was pitching behind, but I knew when my offense picked it up and I started to relax a little bit after that,” said Curtis about his start that clinched the CCC title.
The win improves Turlock to 12-2 in league and the team has won three consecutive contests.
“Going into the season I thought it would be a long shot to win the CCC, but I am very proud of the boys, they played great,” said Bulldogs coach Mark de la Motte.
Turlock had a preseason record of 3-8, before setting off on a 13-2 run over the past 15 games.
The only two losses by Turlock since late March, were at the hands of Pitman.
The Bulldogs continued with their streaky ways on Thursday after five different players finished with at least an RBI.
Those five were Blaine Weber, Mitch Pryschuk, Cody Justus, Trevor Santiago and Chris Steeley.
“I just knew that with our offense hitting the ball, them stepping up would help me as well,” said Curtis.
Buhach struck first in the second inning with a run, which Turlock then answered right back in the bottom half to tie it at 1-1.
By then, BC had gone up 2-1 with their second and final run in the third inning.
Turlock then went on to notch a run in the bottom of the fifth and capped off the game with a three-run inning in the sixth and Curtis and the defense did the rest of the work for the final three outs.
“Just like basketball, started off rough in preseason but we carried it forward as the year went on,” said Curtis of the turnaround.“Defense was on point today as well and everything worked well for us.”
Turlock played a clean game, committing no errors while BC finished with one.
With one game remaining in the regular season, Turlock will take on BC at home at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“Definitely team effort from our seniors who were leaders and the juniors came a long way, very proud of our guys,” Curtis added.