The fifth Trans-Valley League tournament of the season was hosted by Hilmar this past week and Escalon finished in fourth place. The tourney was on Thursday, April 18 at Turlock Country Club.

Ripon, with a team score of 405, won the event and were followed by Hughson, 495; Livingston, 513; and Escalon coming in with a 567. Host Hilmar was fifth, Riverbank was sixth.

Leading the Escalon effort once again was sophomore Brenden Berchtold, who shot a 91 on the day, good for ninth place overall. Ripon swept the top four spots.

Sophomore Matix Trimble shot a 113 for Escalon to finish at number 22 on the day; senior Nate Krieger carded a 117 for 23rd place. Freshman Ethan Tellez and senior Angel Castro tied for 26th place, carding identical scores of 123 on the day.

Berchtold, with his effort at Hilmar, is currently in 10th place in the league standings; top 12 individuals at the end of the regular season earn All-TVL honors.

“His improvement from last year has been impressive,” said head coach Brandon Hoover. “Season highlights are 87 at the Hilmar Invitational at the beginning of the season and a season best 82 at Rancho Del Ray in Atwater.”