JC baseball: Rams headed to the state final four

It had to be the right opportunity.

Logan Poisall knew it and so did his Fresno City College teammates.

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, Poisall was on third — a moment of opportunity having arrived.

Feather River’s O’Keefe Hall threw a wild pitch and Poisall raced home, beating the throw back to Hall and helping the Rams pull out a 9-7 victory Saturday that sends Ron Scott’s ballclub back to the state final four for the first time since 2007.

“It had to be 100%,” Poisall said. “Got a good read, got behind him. I knew I had to be safe and wow. Great atmosphere out there. This is crazy. I don’t even know what to say.”

Tucker Salles added an insurance run when he scored on a passed ball to finish off Fresno City’s victory in Game 2 of the Northern California Sectional at Euless Ballpark.

The final four is at the same site, opening Saturday and concluding on Memorial Day. Fresno City (35-9) is the only team in, with two Sectionals headed to a game 3 Sunday and a third on Monday.

“We’re really excited,” Scott said. “We’ve been working since August. There are only four teams that has a chance to win state and we’re one of them. This is a team that wants to win it.”

The Golden Eagles’ David Rapanot, his team down 1-0 in the best-of-three series after a 2-1 loss Friday, delivered a two-run single in a five-run fifth for a 6-4 lead.

Fresno City then scored three in the seventh,with Scott Silva driving in the first run and later scoring to make it 7-6.

Feather River (32-12) sent the game into extra innings when Garrett Powers fisted the ball over second on a 1-2 count off closer Shane Desmond.

“He made a good pitch but the guy put a good swing on the ball,” Silva said. “Jammed him … a little blooper. We came back in the top of the 10th inning and put up a two-spot.”

That was a relief for state saves leader Desmond (2-2), who struck out top Golden Eagles hitter Gage Matuszak to end it.

“They came up big by getting those two runs,” Desmond said. “If they didn’t get those two runs I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

The Rams (35-9) defeated Skyline and Ohlone in earlier three-game series.

“We’ve been playing on Sunday every time in the playoffs,” Poisall said. “We want to get out of here and enjoy a day off. This is crazy.”

“Took a lot of hard work to get here. We knew we had it in us and we’re just going to come out and play our game like we’ve been doing all year and that’s how we’re going to win. Couldn’t be more excited for this final four.”

And count Silva among those whose feelings alternated between relief and joy.

“Pretty stressful out in the field,” he said. “We always have to push it over the limit, but we got it done.”

Desmond echoed Silva’s thoughts, but said the work is not done.

“We’ve got to finish,” he said. “If we don’t finish, it doesn’t mean anything. The main goal is to be on top and we want to get that done.”

Track and field

Sequoias’ men’s and women’s track and field teams finished second and fourth, respectively, as the state championships wrapped up in San Mateo.

Fresno City’s Moesha Davidson was among the individual champs, winning the long jump with a leap of 18-6.50, though full day 2 results were not available until after The Bee’s deadline Sunday night.

This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 10:17 PM with the headline "JC baseball: Rams headed to the state final four."