Plenty of mistakes in early season CCAL baseball game between Gregori and Turlock
In a normal high school baseball season, a team has at least five preseason games to work on things and build their pitchers’ pitch counts up.
After the coronavirus pandemic wiped out most of the season last year, the 2021 season is eight weeks for most schools and when Gregori and Turlock met on Tuesday in a Central California Athletic League, the two teams had played a combined three games.
Both teams showed plenty of rust with numerous errors and their pitchers combined for 16 walks as Turlock won, 7-5.
“We made a lot of early season mistakes,” Bulldogs coach Sean Gilbert said. “You are going to see a lot of guys on pitch counts early in the season and it’s going to be the next guy up (mentality).”
Bulldogs (3-0) senior pitcher and Fresno State signee Dominic Rodriguez battled through six innings, allowing five runs (three earned), four hits, and striking out six and getting out of a couple of jams after some misjudged plays by outfielders.
“He was able to stay composed and not rattled,” Gilbert said.
Rodriguez’s biggest mistake came in the bottom of the first as Gregori (1-1) senior catcher and Loyola Marymount signee Brett Zimmerman hit a solo home run to right-center field as the Jaguars took an early 1-0 lead.
Jaguars junior pitcher Marco Rodriguez struggled with his command, walking six, and Turlock took advantage in a four-run third inning, highlighted by a two-run bloop single to center field by Bulldogs junior catcher Griffen Sotomayor.
Turlock junior Aidan Askill had a great day at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI double.
The Jaguars recovered from an early 6-1 deficit to cut the lead to 6-5 after six but Bulldogs senior Cole Pacheco earned the save with a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, striking out the first two batters before a groundout to third base ended the game.
“Gregori is a scrappy team,” Gilbert said. “We played sloppy and there are some things we have to work on.”
The two teams play Thursday at Turlock at 3:30 p.m. before the series finale on Saturday at Gregori at noon.
Central Catholic 7, Ripon Christian 1: Central Catholic (6-2) won its fifth game in a row and scored three in the top of the seventh in its win over the Knights (3-4-1).
Ripon Christian senior pitcher Will Gilbert had seven strikeouts in five innings while allowing three runs (two earned).
Downey 9, Modesto 1: The Knights (1-0) won their season opener against the Panthers (0-1).
Millennium 14, Big Valley Christian 4: The Lions (5-4) allowed 11 runs in the first two innings in the loss.
Senior Cade Countryman was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Boys Soccer
Gregori 0, Turlock 0: The two undefeated teams (Gregori is 1-0 and Turlock 2-0) played to a draw.
Girls Soccer
Pitman 8, Downey 2: The Pride (1-0) opened their season with a win over the Knights (0-1). Pitman is at Turlock on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Turlock 5, Gregori 0: Turlock scored three first-half goals in the win.
Enochs 7, Modesto 1: Senior Theresa English and sophomore Darlene Verde each had two goals in the win for the Eagles (3-1).
Girls Volleyball
Central Catholic 3, Manteca 2: Junior Abby Castillon had 12 kills in the win for the Raiders (1-0) and Junior Kate Cover added 23 assists.
Beyer 3, Mountain House 0: The Patriots (1-0) opened the Western Athletic Conference season with a win over the Mustangs.
Pitman 3, Gregori 1: The Pride (1-0) opened the CCAL season with a win over the Jaguars (0-1).
Softball
Central Catholic 4, Ripon 1: The Raiders (5-0) are at Escalon (9-0) on Thursday in a showdown of two of top teams in the Valley Oak League.
Sophomore pitcher Randi Roelling threw a complete game and had 17 strikeouts for the Raiders.
Junior Noellany Ramirez was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
MJC has state leaders in track and field events: After the College of Sequoias Invitational on April 16, the Modesto Junior College Women’s Track and Field team has two state leaders.
Sophomore Rhiannon Genilla (Manteca HS) won the javelin competition with a throw of 39-feet, 91-meters which not only leads the state, but is fourth on the school’s all-time list.
Sophomore Jadyn Snaer (East Union HS) won the 100(12.02) and 200(25.20) meter races. Her time in the 100 is third on the school’s all-time list while her time in the 200 is ninth.
Pirates softball team off to a strong start: The Modesto Junior College softball team is 3-1 after beating Fresno City College in a double-header on April 14.
Sophomore Steele Shumaway (Pitman HS) leads the team with a .563 batting average while sophomore Taylor Brewer is second with a .438 batting average.
The Pirates host Santa Rosa on Saturday in a doubleheader at noon and 2 p.m.
