Hughson baseball takes over TVL lead after sweeping series against Ripon
The Hughson High baseball team set three goals at the start of the season: win the Trans Valley League, host a playoff game and play as many postseason games as possible.
Thursday the Huskies got one step closer to crossing off their first preseason goal.
Max Mankins, Paul Wagner and Bryce McDaniel combined to shut out Ripon, the TVL’s top team entering the week, and power Hughson to a 5-0 win. The win secures a series sweep, giving the Indians two league losses.
Hughson and Escalon claim the top two spots with 7-1 records and Ripon drops to third.
“We talked about our goals before the season, and then we reevaluated midseason and they know that (winning the TVL) is one of our goals,” said Hughson coach Charly Garza. “This goes a long way into making that goal. That’s just kind of in the back of their heads. We don’t talk about it, they know it.”
The Huskies like to keep things loose. They have organized dugout chants and any player not out on the field is always talking, encouraging teammates in the batter’s box and congratulating an outfielder on a diving play on defense. It’s by design. Garza likes the team to have fun, enjoy their journey through a long season. Just like he did when he played growing up.
“I always played my best when I didn’t worry about winning or losing or thinking in absolutes like you have to do this or you can’t do this,” Garza said. “When I took over, my mindset was that kids do best when they’re having fun, when they’re loose and the only expectations are, do what you can control. … “If your best is good enough to win that day on the scoreboard, then it’s good enough and if it’s not, not a problem, and the kids know that.”
Wagner sent a solo home run to left field to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead Thursday and they never looked back. They added a pair of runs in the third and scored once in the fifth and sixth innings each to secure the win. Carlos Guizar added a double and a pair of RBI, Mankins and Blaine Fusi each drove in a run. Hughson won the first game of the series Tuesday, 4-2.
“The message for this game was no different than we would get for any other game and I think that helps the boys stay consistent,” Garza said. “Of course in the standings, this means more, but baseball is still baseball and we still need to play to a standard, when we don’t worry about the rest of this stuff, it’ll take care of itself.”
In addition to becoming the newest TVL frontrunners, Hughson has an impressive 18 wins to just two losses. The Huskies have worked their way up from unranked to start the season to No. 18 in the most recent MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section baseball rankings. They have won seven straight games and have one of the area’s most productive offenses.
“The season has been great because we’ve told guys that weren’t necessarily the top nine or 10 to keep working,” Garza said. “We tell them whenever you’re called upon, just do your best in a different capacity. Maybe last game, you were a dugout guy, but now we need you in right. So everyone has the mentality of doing whatever is asked of me. And it’s a long season so you never know.”
Baseball
Escalon 6, Buhach Colony 5: The Cougars rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to claim the non-league series sweep over Buhach Colony. Nico Franzia drove in two runs in the last inning to tie the game at 5-5 and Lorenzo Texeira walked it off with a single, scoring Logan Huebner to claim the win. Jamin Miller pitched four innings and struck out seven batters.
Hilmar 13, Riverbank 0: Hilmar pitcher Ryan Couchman went the full five innings and struck out 11 in the shutout TVL victory over Riverbank. Offensively, eight Yellowjackets recorded at least one hit and three finished with a multi-hit game. Dakota Maynard recorded two triples and drove in three runs.
Millennium 10, Big Valley Christian 1: The Lions could not secure a sweep of CCAA foe Millennium on Thursday afternoon, allowing five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Big Valley won the first game of the series 14-7 on April 2.
Patterson 1, Central Valley 0: Nate Lozano got the starting nod and Noah Cozart came in to close as the pair combined for a shutout in the CCC game. Junior Guy Allard’s solo home run in the fourth inning brought in the game’s only run. Patterson earned the series sweep with Thursday’s win.
Livingston 10, Modesto Christian 0: The Crusaders put the ball in play Thursday, but could not find holes in Livingston’s defense as they could only produce two hits in the TVL loss.
Venture Academy 8, Turlock Christian 5: After a 5-5 tie at the end of the sixth inning, Venture Academy scored three runs in the top of the seventh and held Turlock Christian scoreless in the bottom half to secure the Central California Athletic Alliance win, remaining perfect in league play. Will Kelley and Cam Kelley each drove in two runs for the Eagles.
Softball
Los Banos 14, Davis 1: Kaliyanei Saykao came up with a triple for Davis, but the Spartans could not string hits together in its WAC loss to the league’s second-place team. Davis scored its only run in the third inning of the five-inning game.
Ceres 8, Beyer 2: The Bulldogs put up six runs in the sixth inning to push their one-run lead to seven in Thursday’s WAC contest against Beyer. The Patriots scored once more in the bottom of the seventh. Ava Montesdeoca had three hits with a home run and drove in a pair of runs. Alizae Cole pitched the complete game and struck out six.
Mountain House 15, Johansen 1: The Vikings scored their only run of the game in the fourth inning, but gave up four in the bottom of the first, second and fourth innings as Mountain House’s offense consistently produced. Four Mustangs finished with a multi-hit game.
Orestimba 10, Ripon Christian 0: Mya Garcia, Gabby Vasquez and Mariah Avila each drove in two or more runs in their five-inning Southern League win over the Knights. Vanessa Millan, Sam Mendoza and Hailey Starr combined for the shutout.
Gregori 11, Downey 0: The CCAL’s top team and No. 14 ranked team in the Sac-Joaquin Section continued to roll, remaining unbeaten in league play with a five-inning win over Downey. Concordia University Irvine signee Kailey Estes struck out 13 in the circle and went 2-for-2 with a home run and 3 RBI.
Pitman 7, Turlock 6: UC Davis signee Rylee Reeves collected three hits with a home run and drove in a run and Nevaeh Russo had two doubles with an RBI to propel Pitman to a win over its crosstown rival. The Pride have won three of their last four CCAL contests.
Big Valley Christian 6, Ben Holt College Prep 1: Azusa Pacific signee Ava Hernandez pitched the full seven innings and struck out 15 in the Lions’ league win. At the plate, Hernandez recorded a triple and scored two runs. Morgan Merzon added one double, one triple and an RBI to lead the team to its third straight win.
