Buhach Colony’s Jefferies, Turlock’s Cumberland help Cal return to NCAA baseball playoffs

Teammates now at Cal, Daulton Jefferies can’t forget his high school encounter with Brett Cumberland.

“I threw a 2-2 change-up going away,” said Jefferies, a 2013 graduate of Atwater’s Buhach Colony. “He flipped his bat at it and doubled down the right-field line.

“I still haunt him about that one.”

For the first time in four years, the Bears are back in the NCAA Division I baseball postseason.

Jefferies and 2014 Turlock High graduate Cumberland – the last two Stanislaus District Players of the Year – have had plenty to do with that.

Jefferies and Cumberland will be the starting battery for Cal when it opens play today against Coastal Carolina in College Station, Texas.

But they’re not the only area players in the playoffs.

The Stanislaus District is represented by seven other players on rosters of teams competing in regionals across the nation.

UCLA’s Kevin Kramer (Turlock, ’11), Oregon’s Jacob Corn (Manteca ’14) and UC Santa Barbara’s Dempsey Grover (Beyer ’13) also will compete in regionals across the country. USC’s Bryce Dyrda (Oakdale ’14) is red-shirting this season, as is Grover’s UCSB teammate, Devon Gradford (Downey ’12).

Vanguard University’s Kevin Bettencourt, a former standout at Central Catholic and Modesto JC, participated in the NAIA World Series. The Lions were eliminated Monday with a 14-10 loss to St. Thomas (Fla.) University.

Jefferies, a sophomore right-hander, posted a 5-5 record with a 3.12 ERA , 27 strikeouts and 20 walks in 72 innings pitched this season.

“I think this is everyone’s first time in the postseason,” said Jefferies, the Central California Conference MVP, as well as the Player of the Year for The Bee and the Merced-Sun-Star as a senior. “We’re here to have fun and play some baseball.”

Cumberland, a true freshman catcher, started 52 of 53 games for the Bears and was inserted in the cleanup spot in the batting order early in the season by coach David Esquer. He hit .247 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs.

Cumberland points to the Feb. 16 game against rival Stanford – the fourth game of the season – when he went 2 for 4 with a pair of homers and seven RBIs as the moment when he realized he handle college baseball.

“When coach Esquer put me in the four hole, I knew he had confidence in me,” said Cumberland. “I didn’t really think I’d have an impact on this team as a freshman. I had no clue.”

UCLA’s Kramer, who was part of the Bruins’ 2013 NCAA championship team, hit .328 this season from his leadoff position after missing all of last year with an injury.

“When we were at UCLA, Brett came out before the first batter and told me, ‘Let’s show him who the real MVPs of the CCC are,” said Jefferies, remembering a Pacific-12 Conference game that featured the last three conference MVPs. “That made me laugh.”

The Bruins are among the favorites to get the last laugh on the rest of the field, ranked No. 2 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll behind LSU.

But both Jefferies and Cumberland like the Bears’ chances.

“I think we can win any three-game series against any opponent,” Jefferies said. “I think anyone on our team can attest to that.”

Cumberland does.

“We have a great starting lineup, and our starting pitching has the ability to beat anybody,” Cumberland added.

Especially if Jefferies can get a few flipped-bat doubles from his teammates.

“Let’s hope so,” he said.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony’s Jefferies, Turlock’s Cumberland help Cal return to NCAA baseball playoffs."