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Farinha’s sixth no-hitter of the season sends TC to section final
TC baseball
TC’s Gavin Farinha tossed his third 7-inning no-hitter of the season, his sixth no-hitter of 2022 overall, during the Eagles’ Division VII semifinal game on Wednesday against Vacaville Christian (Journal file photo).

Turlock Christian baseball has booked their ticket to the Division VII CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship after beating Vacaville Christian by a score of 7-0 on Wednesday night. This was TC’s second win against VC in the best-of-three semifinal series.

“It was a good game all the way around,” said TC head coach Bill York. “Vacaville Christian came out like you would expect of a team that's on the brink of elimination. They’re a playoff team that came out and played hard, started swinging early.”

Even though Vacaville Christian came out aggressive, it was to no avail as TC’s Gavin Farinha tossed his third 7-inning no-hitter of the season, his sixth no-hitter of 2022 overall. He also struck out 11 batters.

York praised his ace pitcher for the series clinching performance, despite uniquely warm and muggy conditions.

“He really competed. It was a really warm night at 97 degrees, so it's really the first time this year that he had to sweat through things. We were also playing on a turf field that made it well over 100, but I'm really proud of him and the way he's worked on being mentally focused and not letting exterior things affect him,” York said.

While Farinha stole the show on the mound, the offense continued their season-long hot streak by scoring seven runs, three of them in the very first inning.

“The offense has been electric,” York said. “We have six solid guys that have just put together really, really good seasons. We have four guys that are hitting over .500 in both league and non-league. It’s a mixture of not doing too much. If they're down in the count, they shoot the ball the other way, or they hunt for a pitch and they're not missing. A lot of that points to my assistant coaches.”

The number two ranked Eagles will now turn their focus to number four ranked Valley Christian Academy of Roseville, who also swept their semifinal opponent. The section final will take place on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Islanders Field in Lathrop. It is a win-or-go home contest.

“We've seen them in the four or five playoffs I've been in,” York said. “It's a good program. They're well coached and have really good baseball IQ, so we're looking forward to a pretty good contest.”

With that in mind, York sent a clear message to his team in the postgame huddle.

“I was very proud of them, but I told them, ‘We've come this far, so let's stay focused.’ We know what our ultimate goal is. The end goal is near, but it's not complete, so we have to put our heads down and do our thing.”