Baseball | CR drops doubleheader, wins one at home against Siskiyous
In a doubleheader, the College of the Redwoods baseball team dropped a seven-inning loss at Shasta 12-2 before coming back in the second half of the doubleheader and competing in a 4-3 setback. Ryan Naillon went 2-for-2 in the first game, while Xavier La Pena went 3-for-5 and Javier Mesa 2-for-4 with a double in the second contest, Tyson Bragg also contributed a double. Drew Franklin went a solid 6.1 innings, giving up four earned runs and one walk in a late-decided start and did much better than the last time he faced the Knights, earning praise from his coaching staff.
"They continue to fight despite the situation they are in," said head coach John Downey of his team's 5-30 (3-19 Golden Valley Conference) record. "I can't ask for more, they come in to work every day and continue to trust the process. With four games left, we are challenging each of them to finish as strong as possible. Everybody has something to fight for."
"We definitely put up a battle and put our best foot forward," he said of the second Shasta contest. "We just didn't come away with a win, as coaches we're going to take accountability and make these guys better. Yesterday (Friday) was a good day for making adjustments."
In their home matchup against Siskiyous on Friday, Redwoods prevailed 4-3, making use of a three-run sixth inning in their first home game in over a month and setting up a Saturday contest that would decide the season series. Kamole Gilliland went 3-for-4 with a run and run batted in, and Hunter Stockinger had a hit, two bases on balls, and two RBIs, with the go-ahead single. Naillon had an RBI double as well in a game that Tristen Valenzuela started, going seven innings while surrendering just three earned runs on eight hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. Quinton Marshall pitched one inning and got the win, McKinleyville High graduate Evan Fraser the save in his inning of work.
"It was a really well-rounded game," said Downey. "Last week, the guys got beat and made adjustments, and they're still putting their best foot forward and fighting for things. We're pretty happy about it… there's progress all over the field. Defensively, offensively we've been hitting our stride, and pitching, there's been a ton of bright spots there. Most of the time it's just not us putting all three phases together, but we're looking forward to finishing the season strong and getting these guys the best opportunity to compete every day."
High school: Ferndale vs St. Bernard's
On Friday night, Ferndale's baseball team set itself up to compete next week with St. Bernard's for Little Four Conference supremacy, winning a 16-7 road game at Hoopa to go to 12-2 (4-2 conference).
Tanner Pidgeon went 3-for-6 with four runs batted in, a triple, and a double. Cash Mobley was 1-for-2 with an RBI, Luke Dixon had an RBI double, Colton Renner went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Cade Renner had a hit, Justin Noga was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, Bradley Williams was 4-for-6 with two RBIs, and Brenden Toller 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
On the mound, Cade Renner went five innings for the win, giving up four hits and six walks while striking out six and yielding four earned runs. Freshman Julian Miller pitched the final two innings scoreless, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out two.
"The biggest thing with this game is it being spring break and a non-scheduled rain makeup game, it gave opportunities for people to get valuable reps, down three starters because of prior engagements," said Wildcat head coach Justin Andersen.
"They all took advantage of their opportunities," he continued, highlighting Noga's day as well as that of Toller and the pitching prowess of Miller. "It was nice to see them getting some reps moving forward… our offense has been consistent and that doesn't worry me, it's just when we have lapses and give up more runs than we should."
He thought pitchers fell behind in the count, but was encouraged that the squad only made two errors. "Our starting pitching needs to continue to stay ahead in counts, and shore some things up," said the coach. "As we know, we've got the only test that matters next week (away and home on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, against St. Bernard's.)."
The starters on the mound for those games are still to be determined at this point based on who's healthy to go. "These are not the most impressive wins, but we're still plugging along," said Andersen. "We're doing what we need to do to give us a chance."
St. Bernard's comes into Tuesday's matchup at 14-0, 6-0 conference.
Ken McCanless can be reached at 707-441-0526.
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