Pioneer High School baseball team surges past Golden Empire League foes Rio Linda – Daily Democrat

Led by seemingly every batter in the lineup, the Pioneer High School varsity baseball team continued their assault on baseballs, scoring 11 first-inning runs en route to an emphatic 16-0 win over Golden Empire League rivals Rio Linda Tuesday evening.

Thanks to an incredibly productive day at the plate and on the mound, the first-placed Patriots (18-5, 15-1 GEL) took care of the third-placed Knights (13-9, 9-4 GEL) in game one of their three-game series and moved one game closer to wrapping up a league title.

As of Wednesday morning, Pioneer remained on top of Casa Roble in the standings. Casa Roble sits in second place with an 11-2 league record. The Patriots took two out of three games against Casa Roble two weeks ago and took control of their championship destiny following a 2-1 win April 12.

“I feel like that series gave a real oomph to our team,” Pioneer senior Matias Michel said. “It’s been an exciting series for the past few years so I think our team got really up and active for it.”

Two wins in the final two games would ensure the sole possession of a league championship and perhaps a more favorable seeding in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Playoffs.

“We had really good at-bats two series ago against Casa Roble, and that sprung us forward as far as having good approaches,” Patriots manager Craig Marquez said. “We have done it in the past two years where in the last few series, we really put the ball in play, and the confidence rises. When your confidence rises as a hitter, it makes it that much easier. You see the ball better and have better approaches at the plate.”

The Patriots cruised into the league clash against Rio Linda follwoing a sweep over Dixon High School last week, winning the series by a combined 34-1 scoreline.

In game one of the series, Michel pitched all seven innings, allowing only 5 hits and a walk while amassing a big-time 16 strikeouts in a close 4-0 win.

“When you have Mayo going on the mound, it takes a little stress off you on the offensive side,” Marquez said. “Every time he takes the mound, it’s fun to watch. However, when he pinpoints his fastball inside and outside and comes up with a change-up and off-speed, sometimes it’s just kind of unfair.”

Game two of the series only went five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule. After putting up 9 runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Patriots added one more in the second and third innings and wrapped the game up in four and a half innings. Every Patriot in the starting lineup collected either a hit or run in the game.

Junior Drew Van Court tossed three stress-free innings with 3 strikeouts while junior Braulio Acevedo came out for the last two innings.

Game three was a true offensive explosion. The Patriots dominated Dixon on their way to a 19-1 scoreline highlighted by 9 runs in the fifth inning. Christian Reyes had the best day at the plate, hitting a home run and driving in 4 runs. Senior Ben Reis pitched a complete game on the mound, allowing 5 hits and collecting 2 strikeouts.

The Patriots offense remained on fire during Tuesday’s game one against Rio Linda, scoring a massive 11 runs in the first inning. This essentially let everyone in attendance know that the game would wrap up early, falling within the 10-run mercy rule.

During the explosion, everyone in the order except the seventh, eighth and ninth batters enjoyed a second at-bat in the inning. Van Court kicked off the scoring with a 2-RBI double, bringing home Landon Dahler and Christian Reyes.

After adding another 9 runs, they scored 2 more in the bottom of the second to take a 13-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, junior Jack Selfridge smacked a double into center field, driving in his first name, brother Jack Cullison, to make it 14-0. Sammy Sanchez would then reach base safely before Luke Ferreira hit his own double, scoring Cullison and Sanchez to make it 16-0. By this point, it was only a matter of time before the fifth inning rolled around.

In the top of the fourth, key highlights included Cullison going all out for a blooper in center field but just missing the ball. Selfridge had Cullison’s back, however, as he threw out the same Knights baserunner after he attempted to steal second base for an inning-ending play.

Michel, who was still fresh, came out for the game’s final two innings to wrap up his five-inning complete game. He struck out seven and only allowed a single hit and walk.

“He had 56 pitches in five innings,” Marquez recalled. He was very efficient. He struggled a little bit trying to find his slider, but he competed and battled and found it to finish them off later in the game. It’s fun to watch him play as a senior and leader on the team.”

Ferreira had Pioneer’s best day at the plate, hitting a double and triple, driving in 5 runs and scoring twice. Dahler, Cullison and Sanchez all had 2 hits each. Dahler and Sanchez also scored 2 runs each, along with Van Court, Selfridge, Reyes and Michel.

“It’s nice when you are in a league like this,” Marquez said. “You have a series against Casa Roble and get to experience a playoff atmosphere near the end of the season. I was proud of what we did after that series because I challenged the boys to keep the bats rolling and not take Dixon or Rio Linda lightly, and so far, we haven’t.”

Up next for Pioneer is game two of the series which is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, at Rio Linda High School. Game three will be Friday at 4:15 p.m. back at Rotary Field.