In the words of the late, great New York Yankees hall of fame catcher Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again.
After last year’s crosstown rivalry between Turlock and Pitman ended with their varsity baseball teams sharing the Central California Athletic League title, the 2023 standings are once again bundled up with the two local teams sitting 1-2 heading into tournament time.
This week, each team completed three-game sweeps of their opponents. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs wrapped up a sweep of Modesto High, taking the Panthers down 10-0 on Monday, 9-1 on Wednesday afternoon and 8-0 on Wednesday night to cap off the doubleheader. For the Pride, they took care of business against Gregori on Monday 9-2, 3-2 on Wednesday and 7-2 on Thursday.
“It’s big to sweep,” said Pitman head coach Andy Walker. “We always talk about, in order to win a league championship, it’s important to win every series. You need to at least take two out of three, and if you can take all three, that’s a bonus. It’s hard against any team at this level to win.”
With the Pride’s sweep, they remain undefeated in CCAL play with a 6-0 record, with three games still needed to be made up due to wet weather in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have jumped Gregori for second place in the standings, heading into the Easter holiday with a 7-2 league record.
Though both squads have winning records, it’s safe to say that either team hasn’t reached their full potential. Prior to sweeping Modesto, Turlock fell to Enochs High on March 31 at John Thurman Field during the Modesto Nuts Showcase, a game in which lefty Fullerton commit Payton Hawkinson gave up four runs on nine hits in a 4-3 loss.
“I felt good, but stuff happens,” he said after the outing. “You can’t be perfect every time.”
Hawkinson rebounded nicely in his next appearance, leading the way in the Bulldogs’ 8-0 win over Modesto, striking out ten and surrendering just one hit over five shutout innings.
A similar story unfolded for Pitman’s Drew Walker, who led the team with three wins heading into the series finale against Gregori on Thursday. Walker started shaky, allowing two runs off three hits and two walks through the opening three frames, but buckled down for the remainder of the game, earning his fourth win of the year in the 7-2 game.
“[Drew] has been outstanding all year, but when you go out on that mound, you’re not always going to have your best stuff, but you’ve got to find a way to grind and collect outs, and he was able to do that,” Coach Walker said.
Amongst those in the stands watching Walker’s performance closely on Thursday was nearly the entire Turlock High roster, including head coach Mike Souza. The Bulldogs had the day off and wrapped up practice early to watch the Pride.
“We got lost,” Souza joked.
Their presence in the stands were a subtle reminder that, although the teams shared last year’s league championship, the Bulldogs won the season series two games to one, something that Pitman players like Andrew Balentine and Brandon Leon have admittedly been lightheartedly annoyed by, as many of the players from each team are friends.
This year’s series between the crosstown rivals will start on Monday, March 17 at Mark de la Motte Field on the grounds of Turlock High School. Game two will transition to the Pitman High ballfield while the series finale will culminate back on Turlock’s home turf. First pitch for each game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
As tradition, all local high school baseball teams will first take a step back from league competition to test their skills against other regional schools in respective tournaments. The Bulldogs won’t have to travel far as they are set to compete in the Oakdale Tournament beginning on Monday. On Wednesday, the Pride will travel to kick off play in the Paso Robles Tournament. After that, the teams will finally face off in 2023 with first place on the line.
