Roundup: Central Catholic baseball extends season with Game 2 win over No. 1 Vanden
After dropping the first of a three-game series in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals against Vanden, Central Catholic senior Nolan Anderson said the Raiders went into Wednesday’s second game with one frame of mind.
“Our mindset all day was kill and advance.” he said.
The San Joaquin Delta College-bound pitcher went the full seven innings, striking out three batters, and was helped by two RBIs from sophomores Adrian Garcia and Fernando Alaniz in a 6-1 win to force a Game 3 on Thursday in Fairfield.
“They’re the one seed for a reason. We made some mistakes (Monday) and it hurt us,” Central Catholic coach Danny Ayala said. “We had one big inning, we gave up some runs, had some errors. … We cleaned it up (Wednesday) … offensively, we put together a good game, scored some runs early and guys kept putting together good at bats. When we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
The Raiders exploded to score all of their runs in the game’s first two innings.
Sophomore Tyler Wentworth, senior Aiden Taylor and Alaniz reached base in three straight first-inning at bats. Taylor and Alaniz knocked in runs, giving the home team a 2-0 lead. Garcia came to the plate with two outs and a runner on second and promptly cleared the bases with a two-run home run. The Raiders led 4-0 by the end of the first.
They took advantage of a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the second and scored two runs to extend their lead to 6-0.
Anderson pitched a gem. He allowed just three hits and was one seventh-inning home run away from a shutout. The Raiders are young, but he’s one of the team’s senior leaders.
“Knowing that you’re in an elimination game and we’re giving the ball to Nolan, we were all pretty confident and he’s done it all year for us,” Ayala said. He’s a workhorse, he’s a senior, he’s a leader, he’s a captain … he’s just a great young man.”
Anderson came into the game focused and ready to help extend his team’s season.
“We knew no matter if we won or lost Monday that I would be on the mound today, and if we lost (Monday), I’d be put in a spot to get to the next day, and that’s what we did,” Anderson said. “It was just an expectation just to get it done.”
The Raiders travel to Fairfield for the final game of the series with a spot in the Division III section title game on the line. They are looking to reach a section final for the second straight season after a 2019 loss to Los Banos in the Division IV championship.
“The stars are lining up for us, this is what we worked our butts off for this season,” Ayala said. “Our guys have worked really hard and they stayed confident, they stuck to the plan and we’ve earned this, every bit of it.”
No. 1 Marysville 9 (2), No. 12 Orestimba 1 (0): The Warriors’ Cinderella run came to an end Wednesday afternoon against the first overall seed in Division IV. Orestimba beat No. 5 Center 10-4 in the first round, then narrowly got out of the quarterfinals with a 13-12 win over No. 4 Woodland but could score only one run in two games against the winner of the Pioneer Valley League.
Orestimba pitchers gave up just one extra base hit but walked five Marysville batters in the loss.
No. 2 Linden 12 (1), No. 6 Hughson 6 (1): The Huskies couldn’t close out their Division V semifinal series at home against the second seeded Lions. Freshman Max Mankins continued to produce for Hughson, following up his four-RBI Game 1 performance with two more on Wednesday. Junior Gavin Stone also added two RBIs to lead the team.
They will travel back to Linden on Thursday for the final game in the best-of-three series, with a spot in the section championship against No. 1 Bradshaw Christian on the line.
No. 2 Turlock Christian 7 (2), No. 6 Vacaville Christian 0 (0): The Eagles completed the Division VII semifinals series sweep of the Falcons with a shutout win. Junior Gavin Farinha pitched a no hitter with 11 strikeouts and tied with Julian Espinoza to lead Turlock Christian with two RBIs.
They advance to the section finals where they will play No. 4 Valley Christian.
May 19 Playoff Schedule
Baseball - Semifinals if necessary Game 3
All games start at 4 p.m. The home team is the higher seed and is listed first. (Series Wins)
Division III
No. 1 Vanden (1) vs No. 4 Central Catholic (1)
Division V
No. 2 Linden (1) vs No. 6 Hughson (1)
Softball - Quarterfinals
All games start at 4 p.m. The home team is the higher seed and is listed first.
Division I
No. 1 Sheldon vs No. 8 Gregori
Division III
No. 2 Central Catholic vs No. 7 Merced
No. 3 Oakdale vs No. 6 Manteca
Division IV
No. 3 Orestimba vs No. 6 Escalon
No. 4 Ripon vs No. 5 Liberty Ranch
Division V
No. 1 Calaveras vs No. 4 Riverbank
No. 2 Linden vs No. 3 Hilmar
Division VII
No. 2 Big Valley Christian vs No. 3 Vacaville Christian
