Baseball notes: Modesto tournament gets professional twist in 55th year
Modesto’s most historic high school baseball tournament takes over the city’s landmark stadium, John Thurman Field, on Monday.
Modesto High’s 55th Dick Windemuth Easter Tournament hosts the four-day event at the professional ballpark. The tournament’s eight-team field includes three Modesto schools and programs from surrounding local programs. They convene in Modesto for games all day, from 8:45 a.m. to the first pitch being in the final game scheduled for 4:15 from April 6-9.
The tournament has been at the Modesto High baseball field on campus for years, but with ongoing construction, the varsity team is playing every home game in 2026 at Thurman Field.
The field has played well all season. The freshly manicured grass and well-kept infield dirt give student athletes the perfect opportunity to play their best without having to make adjustments for conditions. The opportunity to take the same field as former pros is the biggest appeal for players. Outfielders walk the same grass as one of the Seattle Mariners’ most recent multi-time All-Stars, Julio Rodriguez, and infielders make plays where the likes of former Colorado Rockies multi-time All-Star Troy Tulowitzki and Cole Young, the Seattle Mariners newest young MLB infielder.
“What an honor that you can play on a professional field with your high school team,“ Modesto coach Dennis Mattos said. “It is truly fantastic. Not every town that has high school baseball has this opportunity. And we have it here in Modesto.”
For coaches, the focus is on strategy. The outfield is much bigger, giving outfielders more room to track down fly balls, great for the pitchers. But it can be a double-edged sword. The alleys in the outfield are also much larger. A ball that finds a gap can go from a single or double on a high school field to a double or triple at Thurman Field.
Le Grand, Delhi and Beyer join the Panthers in the Crimson bracket, while Ripon Christian, Ceres, Davis and Denair compete in the Black bracket. The first three games are bracket pool play. Then on Thursday, teams from each bracket compete against each other.
Here is the schedule:
Monday, April 6
8:45 a.m. Beyer vs. Modesto
11:15 a.m. Denair vs. Ceres
1:45 p.m. Le Grand vs. Delhi
4:15 p.m. Ripon Christian vs. Davis
Tuesday, April 7
8:45 a.m. Delhi vs. Modesto
11:15 a.m. Ceres vs. Ripon Christian
1:45 p.m. Davis vs. Denair
4:15 p.m. Beyer vs. Le Grand
Wednesday, April 8
8:45 a.m. Denair vs. Ripon Christian
11:15 a.m. Delhi vs. Beyer
1:45 p.m. Ceres vs. Davis
4:15 p.m. Modesto vs. Le Grand
Thursday, April 9
8:45 a.m. No. 4 from Crimson vs. No. 4 from Black
11:15 a.m. No. 3 from Crimson vs. No. 3 from Black
1:45 p.m. No. 2 from Crimson vs. No. 2 from Black
4:15 p.m. No. 1 from Crimson vs. No. 1 from Black
Pitman baseball on the rebound
The Pitman baseball team has the experience. It has the motivation. Now, the Pride are hoping for a rebound season in 2026.
The Pride have used a combination of returning players, a rigorous preseason and lessons learned from the 2025 campaign to get out to an 11-3 overall record, a 4-1 record against Central California Athletic League opponents and a top-25 ranking in the newest MaxPreps section rankings published Thursday.
A two-loss nonleague schedule will come in handy later this season.
The Pride hope to be back at the top of the CCAL standings and want to return to the Sac-Joaquin Section postseason baseball well into May. Their last deep playoff push ended in heartbreak, losing the last two games of the 2023 CIF-SJS Division II semifinals series to Rio Americano.
After missing the postseason the next year, they qualified again in 2025 but lost in the first round to Whitney.
Though they just wrapped up their second CCAL series Thursday, Pitman is setting itself up for a top-three finish in the league standings, which will give it an automatic entry into the CIF-SJS playoffs.
With three returning seniors (Nolan Walker, Jackson Way, Ben Vilhauer) who hit at the top of the lineup and three returning juniors (Cole Kelly, Julian Jacinto, Elias Mendez), they know what it takes.
“We have a mindset where they know that they can be a very good baseball team and a very competitive baseball team,” Pitman coach Andy Walker said. “Since the fall, they’ve been eager to get better.”
The Pride took two games in their three-game CCAL opening set against Enochs and swept Modesto in their second series. They take a break from league play to play four games in two days in San Luis Obispo at a tournament where they take on Gridley and Millikan on April 10 and Pleasant Valley and Merced on April 11.
Central Catholic is the section’s top team
The Central Catholic baseball team had a hot start to the 2026 campaign without a full team. On March 24, the CIF transfer sit-out period ended and the Raiders were at full strength. And they did not miss a step.
The team as of Thursday is the top-ranked in the Sac-Joaquin Section with a 16-3 overall record, a 12-1 Valley Oak League record and 10 straight wins against Sac-Joaquin Section opponents. The Raiders took a break from league play, traveling to Las Vegas for the All Faith Tournament from March 30 to April 8, where they play Bishop Gorman, St. Bernard of Playa del Rey, Chicago’s Mount Carmel, Bishop O’Dowd and Saint Francis of Mountain View. When they return, their schedule doesn’t get easier as they host St. Mary’s of Stockton in a matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the latest MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section rankings.
The team is led by multi-year varsity players. Sacramento State signee Kayden McHenry is 13th in California and No. 3 in the section with a 0.00 earned run average, and Jacob Kiesel is third in the state with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
In the section, Fresno State football signee Chase Perino is 13th in stolen bases (19), and Cruz Costa is seventh in ERA (0.30) and 12th in wins (4).
Stanislaus District teams ranked among best in the section
MaxPreps lists every team in the Sac-Joaquin Section from top to bottom based on its computer rankings system.
Here are the top ranked Stanislaus District teams in the MaxPreps rankings (in order of local ranking, team name and MaxPreps SJS ranking) as of Thursday.
1. Central Catholic (1)
2. Oakdale (13)
3. Pitman (22)
4. Turlock (26)
5. Central Valley (30)
6. Ripon Christian (35)
7. Escalon (47)
8. Enochs (53)
9. Patterson (65)
10. Ripon (67)
