Sharpe strikes out 10 for Enochs in CCAL win over Turlock at John Thurman Field
Kannon Sharpe was not coming out of the game.
A mound visit from Enochs High assistant coach Daryl Galloway during the second game of a three-game series against Central California Athletic League opponent Turlock was simply to offer encouragement. A pitching change was not even an option.
“He told me ‘This is your game to finish,’” Sharpe said. “He said they had a couple hits but go right at these guys.”
Sharpe had to work out of trouble. After six shutout innings, the Bulldogs hung three runs on the junior right hander and were still pressing to extend a two-out rally.
In total, he threw 112 pitches in a complete game 10-strikeout performance, securing a narrow 4-3 win to even the week’s series at 1-1.
He expects to go the full seven innings. A week in between starts gives him plenty of time to see a chiropractor and do the work needed to throw as long as he is needed.
“I guarantee you the answer is gonna be a resounding he ain’t coming out,” Enochs coach Haig Shahbazian said. “So I don’t even bother asking that question.”
The matchup kicked off a day of baseball at John Thurman Field, home of The Modesto Nuts. Both teams threw their aces, Sharpe for Enochs (6-4, 2-3) and Cal State Fullerton-bound Payton Hawkinson for the Bulldogs (4-7, 3-2). With the CCAL as competitive as it is this year, the game had the energy of a must-win matchup. It was a question Shahbazian and his staff discussed prior to the game.
Did they feel this was a must-win situation?
“In our league this year … everybody’s pretty good and everything’s a must win,” Shahbazian said. “The answer was yes. Everything is a must win.”
The Eagles jumped on Hawkinson early, scoring twice in the top of the first courtesy of RBIs from senior Vincent Gates and junior Nicholas Poulus. They added another run in the top of the second and Gates doubled home one more in the fifth.
“They rode their excitement and butterflies they had probably before the game and took it out in positive ways,” Shahbazian said. A big part of the win was the good start that we had.”
Despite finishing with six errors, defense helped Sharpe maintain a shutout through six innings. Infielders turned inning-ending double plays in the second, fifth and sixth innings to strand Bulldogs runners in scoring position.
“The defense got us out of the innings we needed to get out of.” Shahbazian said.
The Bulldogs’ offense surged in the bottom of the seventh as Jackson Mendonca led off with a double and Tyler Castro reached on a single in the next at bat. With runners on first and third, leadoff hitter Josh Ramirez lined a two-RBI double to center field. Hawkinson struck out a game-high 11 batters.
“We had two guys coming off the bench … try to get us started and we put the ball in play,” Turlock coach Michael Souza said. “We had a lot of opportunities, but I told them we can’t wait until the seventh inning to get up.”
Ramirez came around to score on a two-out Carson Gonzalez double to cut the lead to 4-3, but Turlock wouldn’t score again as Sharpe regrouped to strike out the final batter to seal the win.
“He’s a bulldog,” Shahbazian said of Sharpe. ”He competes every time he gets out there. He wants the ball, he rises to the occasion. … Even though pitch counts come into play, we probably would have had to pry the ball out of his hand. That’s how much he wants to stay out there and do his thing.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2023 at 1:00 PM.
