The seasons of three area baseball programs came to an end this week.
After a thrilling, 8-6 win over No. 7 McClatchy in Wednesday's opening round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs, the No. 10 Bulldogs were blanked by the second-seeded Rocklin Thunder by a 4-2 score in the quarterfinal round on Friday.
Up the freeway on Thursday was the Division V showdown between No. 6 Hilmar and No. 3 Wheatland, in which the Yellowjackets fell by a 6-2 score
The bats were similarly quiet for Pitman on Wednesday, as the No. 15 Pride lost their Division II opener against No. 2 Whitney, 9-0. The Pride finished their season at 11-16. Shutting them down was senior Brady Estes, who allowed Pitman’s only two hits of the afternoon and struck out 13.
For Hilmar on Thursday, collected seven hits compared to the Pirates’ two, but seven eight combined walks and an error was all Wheatland needed. John Lopez had an early RBI single and Jacob Sward drove in a run on a sacrifice-fly late in the game. The Yellowjackets ended their season with an 18-5 record.
As for the Bulldogs, it was the highest of highs and lowest of lows this week, with Friday’s game against Rocklin seeing another comeback attempt fall just short.
The Thunder jumped ahead early in the second inning on an RBI groundout, and extended their lead to 3-0 on a pair of RBI singles.
The Bulldogs answered back with two runs in the fourth inning with a pair of RBI singles from Jadon Boyer and Landyn Fitzgerald, but again found themselves down by two runs after a leadoff, solo home run in the fifth. And that was all she wrote. Turlock’s season ended at 20-7-1.
Wednesday’s opener at McClatchy was a stark contrast.
Trailing the Lions 5-4 heading into the seventh inning, the Bulldogs turned to a handful of staples of their program to try to extend their season.
And they delivered.
The two-time, defending Central California Athletic League champions put up three runs in the seventh against the Lions and eventually held on for an 8-6 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Sparking Turlock’s rally was junior Adam Torres, who led off the inning with a pinch-hit single. Senior Brady Faria reached base with a single of his own three pitches later to set the table for four-year varsity standout Josh Ramirez, who tied the game at five run apiece with a line drive hit up the middle.
The Bulldogs took the lead when senior Jaron Rocha, the team’s ace pitcher who threw into the seventh inning Wednesday, singled to load the bases before a wild pitch scored Faria and a groundout off the bat of junior Cooper Pacheco made it a 7-5 game. The eighth run scored on an RBI single by sophomore Mason Hackler.
At 99 pitches, Rocha returned to the mound looking to close out the Lions’ season, but was pulled after a seven-pitch battle with leadoff hitter Ryan Sandmeier ended in a walk. In came senior Andrew Sevilla, the Bulldogs’ regular No. 2 pitcher in the rotation, for the save. Sevilla gave up a single to Diego DiFiore and induced a popout before the defensive play of the season came courtesy of sophomore Cameron Henard.
With just the one out and the two runners in scoring position, Sevilla gave up another. Sandmeier scored easily while DiFiore hustled around third trying to cut the deficit to one. But Henard was quick to the ball, firing in a throw to Rocha at third base who then nabbed DiFiore at the plate to drain any remaining momentum McClatchy may have had. Sevilla shut the door on the Lions’ season with a groundout. It was Sevilla’s first save of the season. His ERA stood at 1.80 at game’s end.
Turlock trailed for most of the contest, with Rocha giving up a run in the first frame and another three in the second to put the Bulldogs in a 4-0 hole. It was par for the course for McClatchy, who posted a team batting average of .308 and team OPS of .857 this season. But the Bulldogs chipped away, getting on the board in the fourth with a solo home run from Ramirez, his second of the year. Ramirez came up clutch again in the fifth, scoring Faria and Henard on a two-run double to make it a 4-3 game. He came around to score four pitches later when Rocha slapped a single to left field. Ramirez entered Friday with 23 hits (seven XBH), 15 RBI and a .724 OPS on the season.
The Lions answered back to retake the lead, 5-4, in the fifth on a sacrifice-fly before the eventful seventh inning.
Rocha earned the win, pushing his record to 6-1. The right-hander’s ERA slightly increased to 1.88 in his 44 2/3 innings over nine appearances, while his three punchouts on the afternoon raised his season total to 46, tied for most of the club with No. 3 starter and fellow senior Dutch Lawrence.
