No miracle rally required this time.
In fact, did Stockdale High even sweat?
A year after defeating Clovis in eight innings in the final, the Mustangs repeated as Central Section Division I baseball champions, defeating Clovis West 6-2 on Friday night.
Stockdale -- which last year beat Clovis 7-6 in a game the Mustangs trailed by three runs with two outs and the bases empty in the seventh -- bolted to a 3-0 first-inning lead and never lost command.
Going up against the Golden Eagles' J.D. Salles, a 21-game winner in two seasons, fourth-seeded Stockdale received home runs from K.C. Hobson, Isaiah Turner and Kyle Desimone at hitter-friendly Stan Bledsoe Field and coasted behind Philip Valos, who wasn't friendly to hitters at all.
The right-hander was precise throughout an emotionless 93-pitch, four-hitter while closing a three-year career with his 30th victory before a capacity crowd.
"I really didn't hear the crowd at all," Valos said. "I saw the catcher and kept breathing."
If the Mustangs (26-5) didn't knock the air out of second-seeded Clovis West (28-6) with a three-run first -- featuring the 15th homer of the year by Hobson -- they certainly lowered the flight of the Eagles in their school-record season.
"Deflating," said Salles, who will continue his career at Fresno State. "They got some good swings on some good pitches. There's nothing I could do."
Much has been said annually about Stockdale's inflated power numbers and the Mustangs getting fat in parks with short dimensions (310 feet down the lines, 370 to center) such as their own and Clovis West's.
Interestingly, the numbers are amazingly lopsided. Stockdale outhomered its opposition 52-7 this year.
"When you've got K.C. and Philip on the mound, that takes care of a lot," Stockdale coach Dan Lemon said.
The left-handed Hobson is the harder thrower of the pair. But heat was not what Lemon wanted to deliver to the Eagles.
"They can smoke a fastball, and we didn't give them a whole lot of fastballs to hit," Lemon said "We threw 75% offspeed."
Valos, who earned the win in last year's title game in relief, didn't give up an earned run and struck out eight -- the last to end it with two runners on in the seventh.
Salles also struck out eight in a five-hitter.
Southwest Yosemite League champion Stockdale caught some major breaks to get here with No. 8 Bullard upsetting No. 1 Buchanan in the quarterfinals, meaning the Mustangs were able to remain at home in the semifinals; and it was there on Wednesday that they benefited from a first-inning ejection to Bullard's best player, Blake Dunn, and two errors in a four-run sixth that beat the Knights 4-3.
But Stockdale needed no good fortune Friday -- just a composed right-hander and continued lightning in its aluminum.
"It's one thing if we didn't play our best game and we weren't playing a good team," Clovis West coach Kevin Patrick said. "But we were. We were playing a great team, and we have nothing to be ashamed of."
A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.
Here are the ground rules:
Contents of this site are © Copyright The Fresno Bee. All rights reserved.
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@