Central Catholic baseball overcomes slow start to advance to D-III second round
The Central Catholic baseball team hasn’t played its best the past few weeks, coach Danny Ayala said, but the Raiders may be starting to shake off the rust at the right time.
In the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs, the No. 5 seed Raiders (19-10) scored 10 runs and allowed just six against No. 12 Bear Creek (16-13) to advance to Friday’s second round, where they will host Fairfield.
For the Raiders, it’s about putting in the work and believing it will show in the biggest moments.
“We haven’t played our best over the past three weeks, but if you’ve seen us practicing and our work and what our boys have been doing, today it showed up,” Ayala said. “You get to the playoffs and you’re going to (play against) a quality team. They’re going to come out and fight. It’s everybody’s season on the line.”
None of the three pitchers who saw time Wednesday had ever started a playoff game on the mound.
Kayden McHenry, Wednesday’s starter on the mound, began last season at first base, reliever Cruz Costa was called up from JV and Caine Walker, a junior who came into close the game, is in his first varsity season. Wednesday was his first playoff game.
McHenry walked five but struck out seven batters and allowed six hits in 5.2 innings. At the plate, he doubled and drove in a run.
“There’s nerves, but it’s about calming down during warm-ups,” McHenry said. “I know I’ve got the best defense in the section behind me, so I’m going to come out and focus on throwing strikes and let my defense play.”
Last season, eight seniors regularly started for the Raiders. This year, they had to replace that production. While they saw the ups and downs of having a lineup full of new starters, Ayala said the inexperience has worn off.
“When you see how hard these guys work and how much they take care of each other, that’s the stuff that I know is going to show up in the playoffs and it did again today,” Ayala said.
With six days between their regular season finale to their playoff opener, the Raiders’ offense took an inning to warm up. After a scoreless first frame, they scored once in the second. They had four runs in the third inning, three more in the fourth and capped their scoring with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
After the Bruins took a 3-1 lead, McHenry got the Raiders’ offense going in the middle innings. The junior laced an RBI double to center field, scoring Marcus Davenport, who singled to lead off the frame. Chase Perino singled in the next at bat and Jacob Kiesel drove both in with a double to give the Raiders a 4-3 lead. Over the next inning and a half, Hudson Walker, Broden Thomas and Joe Farinha had a hand in opening up an 8-3 Raiders lead. The Raiders finished with 11 total hits.
“We get into the box and try to have that mentality that nobody can beat us,” McHenry said. “We get on the plate, try to find a pitch to drive and just play pitch to pitch.”
Bear Creek attempted a comeback. It scored once in the fifth and loaded the bases in the sixth inning, forcing a pitching change. The Bruins forced a walk, driving in a run and forcing another Raiders’ change on the mound.
Walker came in, recorded the final out of the sixth inning and allowed just one seventh-inning run before the end of the game.
With the win, the Raiders advance to the second round of the D-III postseason for the fourth straight season. Most five-seeds get just one home game, but the Raiders will host again Friday after No. 13 Fairfield upset No. 4 Christian Brothers, 2-1, in the first round.
They are looking to advance to their fourth straight section semifinals series where they would play the winner of No. 1 Oakmont and No. 8 Pioneer starting May 12.
“We don’t really care where we go, we’re going to play Raider baseball, but it’s nice to have another home game and homefield advantage,” McHenry said.
Baseball Playoffs
Division I
No. 1 St. Mary’s 4, No. 16 Central Valley 2: Just two days after winning their D-I play-in game, the Hawks took a 2-1 lead over the top seed in the division after the top of the fourth inning. The Rams responded by scoring three unanswered runs to escape with a narrow first-round victory. Carter Hernandez and Ezequiel Verduzco drove in the Hawks’ runs. Central Valley this season won the school’s first baseball league title and finished with a school-record 21 wins and just nine losses.
No. 4 Davis Sr. 11, No. 13 Enochs 1: Enochs scored its only run of the game in the third inning. Caden Reeve hit a fly ball to left field and came all the way around to score after an error. The Eagles were held to just three hits and Davian Garcia produced the team’s only double.
No. 10 Turlock 8, No. 7 McClatchy 6: Turlock was the only CCAL school to advance this postseason after upsetting McClatchy. Josh Ramirez collected three hits, including a home run and had four RBI. The Bulldogs went down 4-0 but Ramirez’s home run got Turlock on the board in the fourth. Turlock outscored the Lions 7-2 in the late innings and put up four runs in the top of the seventh to pull off the upset. They travel to No. 2 Rocklin Friday.
No. 2 Rocklin 6, No. 15 Gregori 4: Gregori nearly upset the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs, opening up a 4-1 lead on the road after the top of the second inning. After that, however, Rocklin scored five unanswered runs to complete the seven-inning comeback win. Canon Buttell, Izaia Perez, Erick Rosas and Azzan Mendoza scored for the Jaguars.
Division II
No. 3 Elk Grove 12, No. 14 Downey 2: Downey scored once in the fourth and once in the fifth, but the third-seed Thundering Herd were too much for the Knights, winning in five innings. Five Knights recorded hits and Daley Holmes and Aidan Cruz finished with RBI. Elk Grove took an 8-2 lead into the final at-bat before Antonio Cuevas hit a walk-off grand slam.
No. 2 Whitney 9, No. 15 Pitman 0: The Pride could not bring a run across in their first-round road matchup. Pride pitchers gave up 11 hits and six walks as their season came to an end.
Division III
No. 8 Pioneer 8, No. 9 Patterson 3: The Tigers and Patriots finished the first inning with two runs each, but Patterson did not score again until the sixth inning in their first round loss. Pioneer scored one run in the second, third and fourth innings and added three in the sixth. Max Medina tripled and Caden Lozano doubled. Noah Cozart finished with a team-high three hits.
No. 2 West Park 9, No. 15 Ceres 5: Ceres played in a competitive game against the No. 2 Panthers. After the top of the third inning, the Bulldogs led 4-3 but West Park answered with four runs in the bottom of the third to retake the lead and did not trail for the rest of the game.
Division IV
No. 3 Roseville 5, No. 14 Beyer 1: Beyer held the Tigers scoreless for the first three innings, but Roseville scored once in the fourth and put up two runs in the fifth and sixth innings each to take control of the first round matchup. Beyer scored its only run of the game in the fifth inning after Matthew Correia reached base and advanced to second on an error, advanced to third on a ground out then scored on a pop fly.
No. 2 Oakdale 10, No. 15 Los Banos 0: The Mustangs proved why they were given the No. 2 seed in the division with a five-inning victory. Griffin Costa, Peyton Wallace and Landon Schutte each tallied two hits. Jordan Haver hit a solo home run and finished with two RBI and Bas Stice drove in two runs. Schutte pitched all six innings, striking out 13 batters and only allowing three hits. The Mustangs host VOL foe No. 7 East Union Friday.
Stanislaus District Baseball Quarterfinals
Division I – May 9
No. 10 Turlock at No. 2 Rocklin
Division III – May 9
No. 13 Fairfield at No. 5 Central Catholic
Division IV – May 9
No. 7 East Union at No. 2 Oakdale
Division V – May 8
No. 6 Hilmar at No. 3 Wheatland
No. 7 Venture Academy at No. 2 Hughson
Division VI – May 8
No. 6 Ripon Christian at No. 3 Colfax
Division VII – May 8
No. 8 Big Valley Christian at No. 1 Turlock Christian
