Roundup: Locals qualify for state track and field meet, Riverbank wins tennis title
High school baseball championship week finished with a pair of competitive matchups that featured Stanislaus District postseason regulars.
Saturday at 10 a.m., Central Catholic took on Roseville in the Division IV championship at Cosumnes River College and Ripon Christian took on Amador at San Joaquin Delta College with the Division VI blue banner on the line. Both matchups featured the No. 1 vs. No. 2 teams in their divisions.
At CRC, despite a 4-1 Central Catholic loss, Kayden McHenry pitched one of the best games of the season in the title game for the second year in a row for the No. 2 Raiders. The Sacramento State-bound senior struck out 10 batters and gave up just five hits and five walks.
The third frame proved to be the deciding inning. Roseville scored all four if its runs in the frame, producing the runs with a two-out rally. The Raiders attempted a two-out rally of their own when Marcus Davenport doubled home McHenry. But after putting runners on first and second, the Raiders’ threat ended with a strikeout.
After McHenry’s outing ended in five innings, Cruz Costa struck out two batters in one inning of work.
UC Davis-bound Tyler Ritter also struck out 10 batters for Roseville in a start that nearly went the distance. With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, he gave way to junior Ethan Gustus, a Vanderbilt commit.
The Raiders never folded, which made head coach Danny Ayala proud.
In the last inning, Ramon Hinojosa drew a walk, Cal Poly signee Max Medina doubled off Gustus and Fresno State football signee Chase Perino was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Gustus’ lone strikeout of the afternoon ended the game.
At Delta College, another season of 20-plus wins came to an end for Ripon Christian. The Knights took an early lead, scoring their lone run in the bottom of the first but the offense was held in check the rest of the game. With two outs in the opening frame, Ripon Christian’s Maxx Anderson walked and stole second base. Stadler Postma singled, driving him in before the final out of the inning in the next at-bat.
Amador scored twice in the third and sixth innings to secure the win.
Neither team will advance to the NorCal regional playoffs, a tough blow for both, but especially for the Raiders, who were a senior-heavy team that was ranked a top-five team in the Sac-Joaquin Section and a top team in Northern California all season.
Turlock Christian wins baseball blue banner
After sweeping Big Valley Christian in the Division VII semifinals, Turlock Christian was set up against a familiar foe Saturday in the Sac-Joaquin Section championship.
In a game that had 19 hits and 16 runs, No. 2 Turlock Christian beat No. 1 Vacaville Christian 10-6 to claim the D-VII blue banner at Delta College.
The Falcons and Eagles matched up for the fourth time in the playoffs since 2022. The win moved Turlock Christian record to 3-1.
Jakobe Garcia drove in two runs, and Michael Miller, Winston York, Brady Worsham, Jake Dein and Blake Starn each added one RBI. Three players finished with two hits, and four players drew two or more walks.
The Eagles scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back. They added one run in the third, four in the fifth and one in the seventh. Vacaville Christian scored once in the first, third and seventh innings and three times in the fifth.
The Eagles lost in the title game twice in the past three seasons, but on Saturday, they captured the second baseball section title in school history.
Local State Track and Field Qualifiers
Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Track and Field championships took over Folsom High School last Friday and Saturday with hundreds of league and division winners vying for a spot at the coveted California State Championships at Buchanan High in Clovis, May 29-30.
Here are the Stanislaus District qualifiers.
Beyer: Alejandro Mejia-Hidalgo — Boys 1,600 meters
Hughson: Bryce Williams — Boys pole vault
Modesto: Praise Ingram — Girls triple jump
Oakdale: Natalie Powell — Girls shot put; Eri Rubio — Boys shot put
Orestimba: Israel Ramirez — Boys 110-meter hurdles
Patterson: Natalie Arraiza — Girls 3,200 meters
Pitman: Kayla Fuentes — Girls 100 meters unified; Dante Jenkins — Boys pole vault; Isabella Stepanovich — Girls 100 meters unified; Girls 4x100 meter relay unified: Isabella Stepanovich, Aberdeen Mcloed, Karina Rosales, Lindsey Sherman, Taylor Stamper, Taylor Walker
Ripon: Clara Schoolland — Girls high jump
Riverbank: Giselle Fernandez — Girls 1,600 meters
Turlock: Anthony Brown — Boys long jump; Mason Hernandez — Boys pole vault; Tanner Linhares — Boys discus
Riverbank crowned co-ed Tennis D1 Champs
A small school took home a Division I championship while softball, baseball and track athletes were busy competing for titles of their own.
Riverbank High’s co-ed tennis team won the Division I championship May 14, beating Amador in the championships at Oak Park Tennis Complex in Stockton, 6-3. The Bruins worked their way through the bracket as a No. 5 seed in the tournament. They beat No. 12 Liberty Ranch 8-1 in the first round, No. 13 Armijo 7-2 in the quarterfinals and No. 8 Orestimba in the semifinals.
The Bruins’ side of the bracket was one full of upsets as Armijo knocked off No. 4 Woodland in the first round and Orestimba beat the Division’s top seed, West Campus, in the quarterfinals.
In the championship, Riverbank pulled off its own upset as Amador was the No. 2 seed in the Division I bracket. Riverbank’s six points were the most any team scored on Amador in the 2026 postseason.
The Bruins also had individuals make deep postseason runs. In men’s doubles, Omar Gomez and Victor Jacobo finished in fourth place. In women’s doubles, Isabel Fernandez and Noemy Torres finished second, and in women’s singles, Nathalie Garcia was a runner-up.
