For the first time since 2019, the Turlock High School varsity baseball team will appear in the second round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 playoffs after a 4-2 win over McClatchy High (Sacramento) on Tuesday afternoon at Mark de la Motte Field.
The Bulldogs, who went 20-8 in the regular season, including a 13-2 conference record to win the Central California Athletic League title, are the No. 7 seed in the D-1 bracket and will have a date with the Franklin Wildcats of Elk Grove in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The defending section champions had a 22-5 regular season record and 16-2 record in the ultra-competitive Delta League to earn this year’s No. 2 seed.
The difference in Tuesday’s playoff opener between the Bulldogs and Lions was a rare inside-the-park home run off the bat of Turlock right-fielder Talan Castro in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie.
The towering fly ball was hit off a fastball delivered by McClatchy starter and Sacramento State commit Jackson Halverson. While left fielder Charlie Rios was already being forced to drift back, the ball was assisted by strong winds blowing out of the park, sailing at least an extra 20 yards before landing near the warning track. The speedy Castro was given the green light by head coach Mike Souza to round third. And though the relay throw to the play beat Castro, he was able to sneak a finger in home plate just before the tag attempt by the McClatchy catcher.
“Same approach all game, all year. Just sit fastball and react to anything else, and it worked out well,” Castro explained. “I just wanted to drive the ball the other way. Wind was blowing a little bit, that helped me out, but (when you) put a ball in play, good things happen.”
Castro was mobbed by his teammates as he returned to the dugout, screaming and tossing his helmet in elation.
“I was so fired up. I was getting a little light-headed. I thought I was going to pass out for a second,” the senior joked.
The inside-the-park round tripper was Castro’s third hit of the game. It was a welcomed sight for Souza, who has continued to stick with the senior despite some recent struggles at the plate.
“Poor guy, he's been slumping,” Souza said. “He always plays right field mostly when Carson (Gonzales) pitches and can never get the big hit. But he was on fire. That (fly ball) had a lot of motion. I knew in my head as soon was it got by (Rios) that I was sending him home. We had to force the defense to play catch. They played catch, got the ball in, but it was such a great slide. That's all on him.”
As Souza referred to, the primary reason Castro found himself in the lineup was because the usual guy manning right field, Carson Gonzales, was tabbed as the game’s starting pitcher. The senior southpaw had a rough first frame. He gave up a single, hit a batter and walked another before two runs scored after second baseman Jaron Rocha couldn’t secure a sharp grounder off the bat of Rylan Pope. Come the second inning, Gonzales buckled down, and as his coach described it, “flat out dominated.”
Gonzales proceeded to pitch into the seventh inning, finishing with 6 ⅓ frames under his belt while allowing just one hit and three walks while punching out 10. He was pulled after facing two batters in the seventh due to a high pitch count (115).
“I was coming out a little nervous,” the senior admitted. “It’s a different atmosphere out here. They were chirping at me, but you know, I can’t let that get to my head. I gotta throw strikes, get out of it and stay focused.
“The curveball was working all day,” Gonzales continued. “That was my ‘out’ pitch right there. If I need a strike, I go to my curveball. The fastball was working, too, but not as well.”
The Bulldogs knotted up the game in the third inning when McClatchy third baseman Xavier Vuitonet bobbled a ground ball off the bat of Josh Ramirez. Carter Crivelli scored on the fielding error while Castro scored the equalizer when Vuitonet sailed his throw to first base. While it was sloppy, Souza said his team is happy to take runs in whichever way they come, especially with Gonzales on the mound.
“It was good to give Carson some runs,” he said. “It seems like he’s always pitching in tight games. It's just every game he's pitched, our run support has always been down. So Josh gave us that spark. And he played some great defense too.”
Ramirez has dazzled with his glove at the shortstop position all year. In Tuesday’s contest, he recorded a team-high five putouts. In three of those instances, the Lions had runners on base and his fielding helped the Bulldogs escape the inning unscathed. In 28 games this season, he has a .907 fielding percentage.
After Gonzales was pulled, right-hander Mason Baker promptly shut the door on the Lions’ season, earning a strikeout and forcing a fielder’s choice.
Thursday’s quarterfinal match will be at the Franklin High baseball field in Elk Grove, with first pitch slated for 4 p.m.
“Franklin's the returning champs,” Souza said. “They're good. They got a lot of dudes. But as long as we throw strikes and play catch and get timely hitting, anything can happen. We're obviously not overlooking them or anything like that, but we know it's going to be a tough game. Everyone's gotta bring a suitcase for this game.”
