Big week for baseball stars at Central Catholic, Turlock, more Modesto-area schools
Clutch home runs, dominant pitching and a dramatic rivalry series headlined a thrilling week of high school baseball across the Modesto area. Here are the top individual performances from the past week.
Original stories by Quinton Hamilton:
‘We have our mojo back’: Gregori secures key CCAL baseball series win over Pitman
Baseball Notes: Perino homers, McHenry closes as Central Catholic wins VOL rivalry
Here are the top performers
• Chase Perino, Central Catholic: The Fresno State football signee launched a go-ahead solo home run over the left-field fence to lead off the seventh inning in a dramatic rubber-game win over Oakdale. “I hit it and it was just magic from there,” Perino said. “That’s the best feeling of my life.”
• Mason Hackler, Turlock: The junior ace has recorded at least 10 strikeouts in each of his last three games and ranks 15th in the Sac-Joaquin Section with 62 strikeouts. In his three CCAL series starts, Hackler is 2-0 with just three hits and one earned run allowed.
• Sebastian Joseph, Gregori: The dual threat struck out six and allowed just one earned run in 4.1 innings on the mound, then drove in three runs at the plate during Gregori’s 13-8 series-clinching win over Pitman.
• Landon Schutte, Oakdale: The Georgia signee delivered what his coach called his best outing of the season, hitting the 100-pitch mark for the first time while striking out nine and surrendering just one earned run in Game 1 against Central Catholic. He also added an RBI double.
• Hudson Walker, Central Catholic: Walker belted a three-run inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning of the Game 3 thriller against Oakdale, helping the Raiders rally from a 10-8 deficit.
• Jackson Howell, Ripon Christian: The Knights standout ranks fifth in the Sac-Joaquin Section with a .558 batting average and second in slugging percentage at 1.023, helping Ripon Christian to a 21-2 record and the best win percentage in recent school history.
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 12:00 PM.