No more heartbreakers for Chowchilla senior class: Tribe wins section baseball title
Senior Austin Hickman endured a couple particularly difficult losses playing for the Chowchilla High baseball team. So did some of his senior teammates.
Funny how a few hours on a Saturday morning can wipe it all away. Hickman drove in two runs to help the Tribe defeat Monache 4-1 in the Central Section Division IV championship game at Beiden Field Saturday.
Chowchilla, long a section baseball power, hadn’t won a title since 2008.
It had gone out in the quarterfinals three straight years, including tough-to-swallow losses of 4-3 in eight innings to Exeter last year and 10-9 to Fowler in 10 innings in 2016, Hickman’s freshman year.
“Both heartbreakers and we finally got here,” Hickman said. “Winning a title finally came true … had to keep working and keep fighting.”
The Tribe took the fight to Monache with a two-run first, then protected a 2-1 lead with a pretty first-to-home double play to end the sixth before adding insurance runs.
Back at home Saturday afternoon, they earned a police escort to the school.
Chowchilla joined Liberty-Madera Ranchos (D-VI) as section champions from the North Sequoia League.
This story was originally published May 18, 2019 at 3:00 PM with the headline "No more heartbreakers for Chowchilla senior class: Tribe wins section baseball title."
