Georgia-bound Schutte’s ‘big energy’ leads Oakdale to win over Central Catholic
Nothing was going to slow down Landon Schutte.
Giving up a seventh-inning triple and a late-game RBI and a surging pitch count didn’t affect him.
Nine strikeouts, just one earned run allowed and a pitch that broke the metal bat of a Central Catholic hitter let everyone know: Monday was his day.
The Georgia-bound, right-handed pitcher’s dominant outing also included just two walks, six hits allowed scattered across 6.1 innings. At the plate, he walked once and lined a double to center field that drove in what ended up being the difference in Oakdale’s 2-1 Valley Oak League win over the rival Raiders.
“Going into the outing, I knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Schutte said. “I knew I was going to need to extend myself a little bit more.”
The win gave the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three league series. Central Catholic is the No. 1 team in the league standings, the No. 3 team in the latest MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section rankings and the top team in the CIF-SJS Division IV rankings. Oakdale is the No. 4 team in the VOL, No. 16 in the section and No. 5 in the section’s D-IV rankings.
There’s no avoiding it. This was the biggest win of the Mustangs’ season.
Oakdale head coach Joey Machado said Monday was Schutte’s best outing of the season.
Schutte said he threw the most pitches he has all year, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He wasn’t going to come out until he had to.
His words of the day were “big energy,” and he showed all that and more. He was animated after strikeouts, celebrating in the dugout with teammates and keeping a laser focus just before he took the mound each half inning.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to compete, and I haven’t had that feeling this year of getting super-aggressive, and that’s when I feel I’m at my best, honestly, when I’m aggressive and competing,” Schutte said. “I tried to tap into that more today.”
And when Schutte hit his pitch count in the seventh with over 100 pitches, his teammates picked him up.
After giving up a run, forcing a pop out and walking a batter, Schutte’s game was done. He handed the ball to Chance Ravalin, who gave up a walk in his first at bat, loading the bases with just one out. Just a few pitches later, Ravalin forced a 4-6-3 double play from Gavin Wyatt to Kane Gray to Christian Amerine to seal the game.
The corners were up and the middle infielders were playing at standard depth, giving them the time to field the hard-hit ground ball for the clincher.
“My infield coach and I looked at each other like, ‘What do you want to do?’” Machado said. “It’s one of those things where we look like geniuses now, but we almost had middle up, too.”
The game was loaded with next-level talent. Central Catholic’s Kayden McHenry will pitch at Sacramento State. Max Medina, who made a diving catch to rob a sure double, will play outfield at Cal Poly SLO. Chase Perino will play football at Fresno State next fall but has the range in the outfield and speed on the basepaths to rome the outfield for the Bulldogs as well. Infielder Broden Thomas and other seniors also have the experience and talent to play at the next level.
Schutte is signed to play in the SEC, his batterymate Griffin Costa is a Fresno Pacific signee, junior left fielder Peyton Wallace has received college interest, and right fielder Bas Stice has a future with Modesto JC.
But players off the bench made their mark.
Ramon Hinojosa drove in Central Catholic’s only run with a late-game pinch hit. After Hudson Walker tripled, he came in cold off the bench and swung at the first two pitches he saw. He put the third in play for an RBI single.
“Top to bottom, everybody’s ready to go,” Central Catholic coach Danny Ayala said. “They come in and contribute in any way they can, and that’s what you saw. Nobody ever gave up and everybody’s hearts are in the right place trying to compete and that’s good baseball.
On the back end of the double play, Amerine had to make a heroic pick. The throw from shortstop was low and to the right. The junior, fresh off the bench as a substitute infielder, scooped the ball, showed it to the umpire, and the Mustangs’ celebration began.
“We had a kid who had a great pick there who was sitting for the first six and a third (innings) of the game,” Machado said. “That’s a good moment for anyone to realize you never know what’s going to happen. To be in that moment and perform is super-special and important.”
Both prepare for the next two games of the series, which will be just as competitive as the first. They play Wednesday at Central Catholic and Friday back at Oakdale, with both starting at 4 p.m.
