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Hawks clip Eagles in baseball season finale
Delhi baseball pic1
Delhis Nick Hernandez hurls a pitch in the early stages of his complete game against TC on Thursday. - photo by FRANKIE TOVAR / The Journal

The season is over for Turlock Christian and Delhi High baseball teams. The Monte Vista Avenue rivals met at Pedretti Field on Thursday for their last game of the season and played through seven innings under the Valley sun. After a near TC comeback, Delhi held on for a 5-3 victory to complete a season sweep over its Southern Athletic League rival.

“With the transition year and the rebuilding, from where we started to where we ended, it was a great progression,” Delhi head coach Scott Bittner said. “I’m really excited for next year and where the team’s headed.”

Delhi jumped out to a three-run lead with the help of a two-run single from Ryan Saavedra in the third inning, a lead that it maintained for the majority of the game. TC battled back to tie the game in the sixth inning with RBIs from Soren Jerner,  Chase Gonzalez and Coleman Kirkendall, only to have the Hawks reply with a two-run seventh inning.

The Eagles nearly completed their comeback in the bottom of the seventh as they stepped up to the plate with a chance at the winning run, but Delhi’s Nick Hernandez put the finishing touches on his complete game from the hill by striking out the last Eagle and leaving two on base. Hernandez finished with no earned runs.

The loss ensured TC a winless 2013 season, but with two-thirds of the roster comprised of freshmen it’s easy to understand the struggles. Still, TC is optimistic about the future as it will return next season with a young and experienced team.

“Six of the nine players are freshmen so they gained a lot of varsity experience,” TC head coach Tim Tanis said. “We started to score more runs and bat much better against the league later in the season.”

As for Delhi, it didn’t boast as many underclassmen, but with new coaches and a new system it was also a rebuilding year. Though their only two wins of the season came against TC, the Hawks are looking forward to hitting the field next season with a set foundation they hope leads to success.

“It’s still a work in progress with the new coaches and the new system,” Bittner said. “The juniors and sophomores responded well but overall, we were a team that mostly beat ourselves. Moving forward, all the things they learned this year are only going to help them moving forward.”