Winning both games this week, the JV Cougars took down rival Ripon on the baseball diamond, both on the road and then at home.
The JV boys started with a 12-3 road win at Ripon on Wednesday, April 5.
“Anthony LaRossa got the start, he went five-and-a-third innings,” said head coach Ken Baptista.
LaRossa picked up the win, teammate Zach Hearn came in and pitched the last inning and two-thirds.
“He did a good job,” Baptista said of Hearn.
The team also had their hitting shoes on for the game, starting off with a bang.
“Hunter Van Boven had a leadoff home run,” noted Baptista. “He went 3-for-5 with an RBI and four runs scored.”
Van Boven’s homer was the only extra base hit on the day for the JV Cougars. The rest of them were singles, but they had enough to come away with the win.
LaRossa was 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, Cole Gilbert was 3-for-5 with four RBI. Driving in two runs each were Noah Rast and Ethan Johnson while Brad Hagglund had a hit and four runs scored.
“Friday we won 9-2 but no one had multiple hits,” Baptista said.
The Cougars hosted the Indians in the April 7 contest and took advantage of several walks to help get runners on base.
Daniel Luis had a pair of runs batted in on the day, while Gilbert, LaRossa, Hagglund and Van Boven all contributed hits.
Cole Gilbert got the start on the mound, going five innings for the win.
“He did not give up a hit, which I didn’t realize until I went to pull him because of the pitch count,” Baptista said of his starter.
Gilbert struck out seven, walked seven and allowed two runs in his five innings of work.
Roman Gonzales pitched two strong innings of relief.
“It was a good week,” Baptista added of getting the two Trans-Valley League wins.
Action this week has them hosting Mountain House on Wednesday, April 12 and then traveling to Mountain House for a Thursday, April 13 contest. Both games start at 4 p.m.
They will then play in the Oakdale Tournament during the spring break week, starting off with a game against Buhach Colony on Wednesday, April 19.
