Earning an opening round win on the home diamond Wednesday, May 6, the Escalon varsity baseball team kept the momentum going and came away with a huge road win Friday, May 8 as they took down the top seed – Lincoln – in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 playoffs.
The Cougars went in as the number eight seed and defeated number nine Casa Roble by a 4-1 final in the first-round game on Wednesday.
The visitors took the lead with a run in the top of the third but Escalon answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. The host Cougars added an insurance run n the bottom of the fourth and held off Casa Roble for the 4-1 victory.
Brody Abbott had an RBI double; Wyatt Riesenbeck added an RBI single and Dylan Ball had an RBI single as well in the win.
Senior Zach Wells went the distance on the mound for Escalon, scattering five hits.
“Going into the game, I knew I needed to throw seven innings,” Wells said, adding that he took time to study the Casa Roble hitters and felt prepared heading into the contest.
He also credited senior catcher Andrew Armosino for calling a good game and getting a couple of puts outs during the contest.
For his part, Armosino said it was a satisfying win and together, he and Wells studied the tendencies of the hitters and knew how to work the count. He also said falling behind in the third served as a wake-up call.
“We didn’t back down from it, I think we got empowered from it,” he said of seeing Casa Roble take an early lead.
For head coach Gino Franceschetti, it was the first playoff win since he took over the head coaching position for the varsity baseball team.
“Thanks to ‘Big Al’, Zach Wells, he went all seven innings, all the way up to 115 pitches, without his effort it’s probably not going to happen that way,” Franceschetti said. “It was a really good effort by him and the guys just kind of rallied off of it.”
Escalon was able to get out of trouble a couple of times by catching Case Roble players in rundowns.
“We haven’t been the best at them all year,” Franceschetti admitted. “But when you get in a rundown like that, you tell the guys just play catch with it, it just happened to click at the right time, it couldn’t have happened at a more perfect time. We kind of got fortunate with some baserunning mistakes by them and we capitalized on it.”
There was a sigh or relief from the coach, finally getting that first postseason win, but he was quick to give credit to the team.
“It feels really good but I didn’t do anything; it’s all these guys that did it so I’m just thankful that they were able to do that for me,” Franceschetti said.
Friday, the team headed out on a long road trip to face the top seed Lincoln Zebras, and battled to a 5-4 victory to earn their 20th win of the season and make it to the semifinal round.
“It was a long drive but it was a fun drive home,” Franceschetti said, noting that all team members opted to ride the bus back as opposed to some returning with family.
He said taking on the reigning Section champions was a daunting task, but the Cougars came through, including junior pitcher Brody Abbott, who gave the varsity squad a solid performance on the mound, throwing 102 pitches over seven innings of work, and senior Logan Huebner, who drove in the winning run with a long sacrifice fly.
“We only had one strikeout offensively,” added Franceschetti. “Our original starting nine didn’t have a strikeout so we put the ball in play, we put pressure on their defense.”
Escalon scored four runs in the top of the second; Lincoln got two of those back in the bottom of that inning and then tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
But Escalon took the lead for good in the top of the sixth.
In the inning, Lorenzo Teixeira reached on an error and Zach Wells moved him over on a sacrifice bunt. Ben Gonzalez was put in as a pinch runner for Teixeira and he was able to advance to third on a base hit from Drew Hagan.
“We had runners at first and third, Logan Huebner was up and he got behind 0-and-2 and fought off a good pitch,” Franceschetti said. “Then he hit a curve ball to deep left and Ben tagged from third.”
Gonzalez would score what proved to be the game-winning run. Huebner had two RBI on the day, as did Dylan Ball and Andrew Armosino drove in one run. Huebner had a double, Ball added a triple.
Franceschetti said it was the best situational hitting the Cougars have done this season, helping to make the difference, and they also got a timely double play.
In the bottom of the seventh, it was a four pitch walk to the leadoff hitter, then a seven-pitch strikeout by Abbott. The next batter hit into a doble play for Lincoln, with Escalon recording the big win.
“There was a ton of fans, it almost felt like we were on the home field,” Franceschetti said of the Escalon faithful that turned out. “You could feel the energy from the crowd.”
Now the Cougars are on to the best-of-three semifinal series, where they face off against Wheatland. Game one was slated for Tuesday, May 12 at 4 p.m., on the road, and the Cougars will host Wheatland on Thursday, May 14 at 4 p.m.
The first team to two wins in the series moves on to the Section final on May 23. Number two Woodland and number three Sutter are in the best-of-three series on the other side of the D5 bracket.
SOFTBALL
The postseason begins for Escalon’s varsity softball girls on May 13, as they host Woodland Christian in opening round action in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 playoffs. Game time is 4 p.m.; Escalon comes in as the number seven seed, Woodland Christian as number 10. Escalon finished second in the Trans-Valley League with a 9-3 record this season. Hughson was league champion, going 12-0 and they are the top seed in D5.
“We have a team that can compete and go far,” Escalon head coach Lexy Underwood said. “This is a team with three seniors that have not made it to playoffs since their freshman year. This game should be a good one and I truly believe if we show up and play the way we can, we can go a long way.”
Winner of the opening round game Wednesday moves on to the quarterfinals on Friday, May 15 against the winner of the number two Calaveras-number 15 Livingston first round match up.
TENNIS
While there are some doubles teams moving on to the Section competition at Oak Park in Stockton, the Cougar tennis team at Escalon concluded its season with a playoff loss to Lindhurst.
The match on May 5 saw the visiting Lindhurst team escape with a 5-4 victory.
In singles action, both the Escalon boys number one singles Nathan Rose and number two singles Brien Novetzke were winners. Rose won 6-0, 6-1 and Novetzke battled to a 6-4 win in set one before his opponent forfeited in set two.
Lindhurst took both girls singles matches, though number one Brianna Gallo and number two Chloe Green for Escalon both fought to a three-set loss.
In doubles, number one boys Ben Ferreira and Luca Cerasi were straight sets winners, 6-2, 6-2 over Lindhurst and number one girls doubles Emma Rangel and Marina Franzia won their match, 6-3, 6-4.
Boys number two doubles Conner McDowell and Co Northcutt fell 4-6, 2-6 and girls number two doubles Alaina Mancilla and Haven MacKinnon took a straight sets loss as well. In mixed doubles, Escalon’s Christian Ramirez and Brooklyn Dugo fell by a 4-6, 2-6 final.
Rose, Ferreira, Cerasi and Rangel will all continue their tennis campaigns. Rose and Rangel earned the number one mixed doubles seed to the individual Sections at Oak Park in Stockton; Ferreira and Cerasi are the top seed boys doubles team for the May 18 and 19 Section competition.
GOLF
Representing Escalon at the Divisional round of golf, hosted at Micke Grove on May 4, senior Brenden Berchtold closed out his high school golf career there.
The senior turned in a solid performance at Divisionals, carding an 82 on the course.
He placed 17th overall as an individual and was the second-place finisher among the TVL participants.
The 82 was a 10-stroke improvement from his score at the event last year and a 20-stroke improvement from his sophomore campaign.
There were a total of 70 golfers competing at the Divisional event. Cutoff to make the Masters Tournament was 76, so Berchtold ended his season with the Divisional appearance. He plans to attend Modesto Junior College next year and play golf for the Pirates.
VOLLEYBALL
Playing in a fundraiser recently in the EHS gym, members of the Escalon boys and girls volleyball programs got to take the court one final time this school year.
The JV Lady Cougars defeated the JV boys by a 2-0 finale, while the varsity boys shut out the varsity girls by a 2-0 score in their match.
“It was a successful night and we are so thankful for everyone who showed up to support it,” said coach Alyssa Cogburn. “We definitely plan on making it an annual event.”
