Beyer baseball clinches share of MMC crown and No. 1 playoff seed

The Beyer High School baseball team tasted postseason success last spring, winning a game in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I South tournament.

Led by seven seniors, the Patriots crave more this season.

Beyer clinched a share of the Modesto Metro Conference championship and the No. 1 playoff seed with a 13-0 victory over Modesto on Wednesday. The game was called after five innings because of the mercy rule.

No surprise there. Beyer (16-3, 13-1 MMC) has won five of its last six games by 10 runs or more.

“It says a lot about this team. They’ve worked hard every single day. It started early in the year, in fall ball and weight-lifting and our conditioning well before tryouts,” Beyer coach Dom Duran said of his team’s focus. “All of these guys have stuck together. It’s a rare day when someone misses practice. They’ve shown there’s nobody they can’t overcome.”

Chase Fetzer tossed a three-hitter and had two hits. Chris Alonzo and Trevor Ravelli also had two hits apiece.

Fetzer struck out four, walked none and faced three batters over the minimum as he moved quickly through the Panthers’ lineup. Fetzer threw 59 pitches.

Once 5-1 in conference play, Modesto (8-14-1, 6-8) has lost seven of eight, including two straight to fall out of the playoff picture.

Beyer will advance to the Division I South tournament as the MMC’s No. 1 seed regardless of what transpires over the next four games. The Patriots have a four-game advantage over Enochs and Gregori and own the tiebreaker over each. Beyer can wrap up an outright title at home Friday.

Beyer was the No. 1 seed last season, too, after beating co-champion Gregori in a one-game playoff. The Patriots received a first-round bye, then beat Lincoln before suffering back-to-back defeats to Pitman and Tracy.

“They’re hungry, especially these seniors,” Duran said. “They got to sniff it, and now they want the whole thing. They won’t be satisfied until they do.”

Ryan Frakes scored three runs, and drove in two. Mason Fontana, Tyler Orique and Matt Williams also drove in two runs apiece. Nine players had at least one hit for the Patriots.

“They square up more balls than any other team I’ve coached,” Duran said of his lineup. “Every ball is hit hard. The plays that are made on the defensive end, when they can get behind my players’ balls, they’ll have a bruise if they don’t field it cleanly.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Beyer baseball clinches share of MMC crown and No. 1 playoff seed."