Folsom Lake, Sierra take aim at California JC baseball title as Final Four returns to area

The California junior college baseball championships are coming back to Folsom with two Sacramento-area teams fighting for the state’s top prize in what should be an eventful Memorial Day weekend.

The top-seeded Folsom Lake Falcons and No. 2 Sierra College Wolverines make up half of the bracket as the top two teams in Northern California. They’ll square off against Southern California representatives Saddleback and Santa Ana in a four-team, double-elimination tournament that will be held at Folsom Lake’s baseball facility for the second consecutive year.

The tournament begins with two games Saturday with three scheduled for Sunday. The state champion will be determined Monday.

“I think it says a lot about our facilities,” Folsom Lake coach Rich Gregory said. “I think it’s one of the premier junior college fields in the state of California.”

Folsom Lake and Sierra are both in the juggernaut Big 8 Conference, which is considered the most competitive in Northern California, and both are expected to have players competing for Division I schools in the coming years. Sierra won two of the three matchups between the programs during the season, but Folsom Lake enters as NorCal’s top seed after entering the playoffs with a better record.

Overcoming adversity

The Falcons (36-11) are back in the Final Four at their home venue a year after losing the state championship to Riverside. But their return wasn’t always a sure thing.

The Falcons lost their top pitcher, Gavin Ochoa, in the second week of the season to a lower back injury. And their No. 2 arm, Jack Bolton, went down soon after to have Tommy John surgery. Overcoming those losses has taken a collective effort, Gregory said, with the team leaning heavily on its standout corner infielders.

“Ultimately we’re led by JT Waldon, our first baseman, and (third baseman) Logan Sutter,” Gregory said. “That infield group has really done an amazing job and hit at the top of our lineup. They’ve done a tremendous job for us and really carried us a lot of the way.”

Sutter was named Big 8 Conference Player of the Year while hitting .390 with 10 home runs, 26 doubles and 67 RBI. He’s uncommitted to a four-year program but is planning to join the Johnson City Doughboys of the Appalachian League, a developmental wood-bat league for college prospects. He played in high school at Del Oro.

Waldon has committed to USC after hitting .380 with a .471 on-base percentage while matching Sutter with 10 home runs and 68 RBI. Pitcher and second baseman Andrew Neil is going to the University of New Mexico and shortstop Drake Digiorno is going to UC Santa Barbara.

The Folsom Lake baseball program has an impressive resume for only being around nine years. It is hosting and playing in its second straight state championships and has had players drafted by Major League teams: pitcher Gabriel Emmett (19th round, 2021, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Carson McCusker (26th round, 2017, Milwaukee Brewers).

Gregory has prioritized connecting with his players to address their individual needs to help create a culture the program is looking for.

“First and foremost is we got to have as much fun as we possibly can,” Gregory said. “No one wants to be miserable and no kid wants to play for a coach who runs it like a prison. For us, we really spend a lot of time to get to know each and every one of our guys, and really help and understand what their needs are so we can help them develop and achieve their goals.”

Folsom Lake’s weekend begins with a game against Santa Ana at 6 p.m. Friday with hurler Cameron Saso on the mound. Andrew Neil will start Game 2 on Saturday and Rico Merlo will get the nod in Game 3.

Looking to capitalize

The Wolverines (34-13) are entering the state championships fresh off an upset on the road against perennial power Santa Rosa, the top seed entering the NorCal playoffs, in the previous round as the No. 5 seed. The three-game series came down to the final contest with a moment in the team hotel beforehand serving as a seminal moment for their season.

Sierra came out with an impressive 9-4 victory in Game 1 before losing in dispiriting fashion, 8-1, in the pivotal Game 2. It set a pressure-packed final game for head coach Ryan Evangelho’s club.

“I’m sitting in my room in Santa Rosa,” Evangelho said. “A couple of the boys called me in my room and asked, ‘Coach, can we hit tomorrow?’ Because usually whenever we play a back-to-back game, we decide not to hit before a game ... and we won all seven of those games.”

Evangelho asked what changed his players’ minds.

“We feel like we want to get to the field earlier and get ready to go,” Evangelho said, recounting his players’ message. “I end up going down to the room and talking to them. There’s about 22 guys laying on a bed watching the NBA playoffs, and we just end up talking about Game 3.

“I said, let’s do it. Let’s hit. So we end up hitting before Game 3.”

It was a topsy-turvy affair. They fell behind 4-0 to Santa Rosa earlier before a two-run homer put them up by one, and then Santa Rosa regain the lead. Ultimately, Sierra ended up winning a wild contest, 11-8, to advance to the state championships.

Sierra had six players receive all-conference honors: pitcher Jaccob Torres (Bella Vista), pitcher Matthew Sigafoos, shortstop Zach Chamizo (Lincoln), infielder Jack Weise, catcher Clayton Coates (Lincoln) and pitcher Gerald Hanson (Woodcreek), who was named Freshman Pitcher of the Year.

Chamizo is signed to play for UC Riverside. Torres signed with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Another pitcher, Kai Peterson, is headed to Rice in the fall. Sigafoos, the team’s closer, is headed to UNLV.

Sierra’s first game of the tournament is Saturday at noon with Peterson on the hill. Torres will pitch in Game 2.