Baseball roundup: Downey looks to ride hot start into CCAL play; Ripon Christian wins big
Downey’s James Watson and Camden Rush haven’t seen the team like this in their high school careers.
The Knights are coming off a weekend where they won their March Madness Tournament and are hoping to add to what is their best start in coach Justin Schwitters’ six seasons.
“We’ve always been OK,” Rush, a junior shortstop, said. “We’d compete in games, but we could never pull out wins against good teams. Now we’re figuring it out.”
After Tuesday’s 6-1 win over Sierra, the Knights (7-1) have won seven straight games.
James Rasmussen drove in the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run, and Rush had a double and drove in three runs in the game.
Max Fuqua pitched all seven innings and struck out eight.
“Max did really well today,” Schwitters said. “He was rolling and there was no reason to (sub him out). He’s like, ‘Coach, I got this, I got this,’ and there isn’t any part of him that proved himself wrong today. So I was like, ‘All right, go for it.’”
Schwitters already can tell this team is different from those he’s coached before.
While it’s nice to have pitchers who can last a full game, he knows he has options.
“We have depth,” he said. “We have seven pitchers who can come in and throw multiple pitches for strikes and even at positions in the field … nobody has to just do everything on any given day. We have plenty of guys who can pick us up.”
The players also have had a different approach mentally so far this season.
“It’s the want to win more,” Watson said. “Especially for seniors. It’s our last year, so we want to bang it out, make it memorable. So far, it has been like that for me.”
The Knights play Turlock, one of the best teams in the area, next week as part of a Central California Athletic League schedule that continues to get tougher every year.
Watson, a senior, says this is the best he’s seen the CCAL in his years at Downey.
Downey ends the preseason with games against East Union and Lodi.
St. Mary’s 6, Turlock 5: After falling behind, the Bulldogs rallied, scoring two runs in the fifth and sixth innings and one in the top of the seventh, but gave up the deciding run in the bottom of the ninth.
Ripon Christian 17, Le Grand 4: The Knights scored five or more runs in the first, third and fourth innings in their first league game against Le Grand. Eli Terpsma went 4-4 with two home runs and a double and drove in two runs. Jacob Kowes had three hits with a home run, a triple and four RBIs.
Lathrop 4, Ceres 3: After winning their season opener against Escalon, the Bulldogs have lost eight straight after Tuesday’s road game. They fell behind early but scored two runs in the fourth to tie the game at 3 apiece. The Spartans scored the walk-off run in the bottom of the eighth.
Orestimba 17, Denair 0: The Warriors bounced back Tuesday from two straight losses. They broke the game open in the second and third innings, scoring seven and six runs, respectively.
Mountain House 12, Davis 1: The Spartans dropped their first league game of the season. They will play Mountain House again Thursday on the road.
Oakdale 6, Kimball 5: After giving up four runs in the first inning, the Mustangs allowed just one run in the rest of the game. Landon Nunes went 2-2 with a double and was one of six players to have one RBI.
Los Banos 10, Beyer 0: The Patriots were shut out in Tuesday’s league game against the Tigers.
Pacheco 21, Johansen 4: The Vikings lost their fifth straight game in Tuesday’s road game against Pacheco. They will host the Panthers on Thursday, March 17, as they look for their first win.
Modesto 11, Big Valley Christian 2: The Panthers bounced back from their March 9 shutout loss to Ceres with Tuesday’s win over Big Valley Christian. Randy Garcia had two doubles and Eli McCabe led the team with three hits and two RBIs.
