Pitman High School was the center of nearly four hours of water polo action Tuesday evening as the venue played host to three playoff matches involving the home Pride and the neighboring Turlock High program. Despite the unusual circumstances, and amid some frustration, a large crowd had much to cheer about, as all three matches ended in favor of the two local schools.
In the comfort of their own pool, the Pitman girls’ varsity team pulled out a thrilling 18-13 victory over Rodriguez (Fairfield) to open the action in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I bracket. The Turlock girls’ team followed up by defeating Inderkum (Sacramento) by a 14-8 score to advance in the same bracket. The Inderkum boys’ team then suffered a lopsided 25-8 loss to the Bulldogs over in the boy’s D-I tournament to cap off the day’s action.
Due to the pool at Turlock High’s Steve Feaver Aquatic Center not having dimensions within CIF water polo regulations, the Bulldogs were lent a helpful hand from their crosstown rivals.
Tuesday was when all women’s playoff action was to get underway, and both Turlock and Pitman were slated to host games at their respective home pools. On top of that, the Bulldogs were due to host Inderkum in both boy’s and girl’s brackets on back-to-back days. The easiest solution to reduce conflict between the two girl’s games and to relieve Inderkum of extra travel was to host a triple-header.
“I think being one of the better teams in the section, one of the better teams in our county, it's unfortunate that we don’t have a facility to host a playoff game,” said Turlock boy’s head coach Nic Serratos. “We're frustrated by it. We would love to be able to fix that issue and host games at our pool, where the kids work hard and deserve to host it in front of their peers, in front of their staff, in front of their classmates.
“We're hoping we get a high seed and be able to play one more game at home for senior night, and then, due to our facilities, we're not able to. So it’s just really unfortunate that we just don't have the facility to be able to host regulation water polo.”
TURLOCK BOYS VS. INDERKUM
As Serratos alluded to, his Turlock team is a force in the boy’s bracket, as they are the No. 6 team in the Division I bracket after going 17-11 in the regular season and achieving another undefeated CCAL campaign. They were a comfortable favorite against the No. 11 Tigers (10-11). By the final horn, 12 different players found the back of the net.
Leading the charge for the Bulldogs was senior Jacob Packwood with a game-high six goals. Junior Miles Hakanson followed with four.
Senior Jack Brem scored first within the first 20 seconds of game action before Packwood scored three consecutive goals. In the blink of an eye, the Bulldogs built a 7-0 lead to force a timeout and a flurry of substitutions for Inderkum, but it didn’t make much of a difference.
“When you're the higher seed in the first round, I mean, that should be how it goes,” Serratos said. “It's good that the boys treated it like a playoff game, didn't let it get to their head and played good ball.
“It was all about trying to get everyone to experience that playoff (atmosphere) and see how they handle that adversity. We wanted to get everyone in during the first half and kind of see who could handle the playoff water polo. Across the board, they looked like they were ready for it.”
The Bulldogs will now hit the road to take on No. 3 Davis at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
PITMAN GIRLS VS. RODRIGUEZ
The No. 8 Pride (15-11) held off a roaring comeback attempt by the No. 9 Mustangs (14-12) to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, where they’ll face Davis, the top seed in the D-I bracket.
After holding a halftime lead of 12-7, the Mustangs went on a 6-2 run late in the third quarter, bringing the match into a tie multiple times. But the Pride never folded, riding the efforts of goalkeeper Emily Hanson.
With regular goalie Alison Coughlin out with an illness, the Pride dispatched Hanson, who was the starter at the junior varsity level. Not only did Hanson finish with 14 saves, but she held the Mustangs scoreless in the fourth quarter. The score by the end of the third frame was 14-13, Pitman.
“She was just awesome for us,” said Pitman head coach Justin Souza said of Hanson. “I can’t commend her enough.”
Nevertheless, nobody was more explosive with the ball in her hands as senior Kaydence Braley was, as she finished with 15 goals.
“If a team's going to play her one-on-one, she's got that,” Souza said with a laugh. “She's had it all year. Obviously, 15 goals was amazing from her, but we're very confident with her in those situations.”
Also scoring for Pitman was Alex Perez, Elena Esquibel and Claudia Martin-Park.
Souza believes his team has been battle-tested all year.
“I'm proud of how they took the punches, and they kept playing right,” he said. “There was never a point where we took a hard loss and then let that affect our next game. They are a really mentally tough team, and I'm proud of how they showed up each game, just as they did tonight.”
TURLOCK GIRLS VS. INDERKUM
Higher up in the girl’s Division I bracket, No. 6 Turlock (17-9) was just as dominant as the boys, holding No. 11 Inderkum (7-13) scoreless for nearly the entire first half.
The Bulldogs had built a 9-0 lead before the Tigers finally found paydirt in the waning seconds of the second quarter. Denying the Tigers time and time again was sophomore goalkeeper Daphne Lewis, who racked up 14 saves.
Turlock assistant coach Caitlin Cornell explained that Lewis volunteered to play the position last year as a freshman, and that she has blossomed in the role.
“She came out this summer and played and got a lot of experience, and then this summer, we learned that she has a lot more talent that's hidden, and she has just flourished,” Cornell said. She just thrives out here, no matter what is going on around her.”
All but two goals were scored by the duo of Cora Newell and Kallie Parker, who each tallied six on the evening.
Newell, a junior, did the bulk of her scoring in the first half. She scored shortly after the opening whistle, and had four others before the Tigers finally cashed in for a point. Parker, a senior, contributed three goals in the first half, and began the third quarter with three straight scores.
Cornell wasn’t surprised by their success.
“Kallie and Cora have been our leading shooters, and they are not afraid to even just take a couple misses in order to get their goals,” Cornell said. “It has been vital throughout our entire season, but it’s usually those two coming out firing in the first quarter, and then everyone kind of comes in afterwards.”
Also scoring for Turlock was Lou Bornman and Riley Carranza.
Awaiting the Bulldogs on Thursday is No. 3 Oak Ridge in El Dorado Hills.
