The Woodland High School varsity baseball team is in the thick of a postseason hunt and continued to take care of business this week to keep those hopes alive.
The Wolves (9-8, 7-7 Golden Empire League) climbed back above .500 overall with a 12-1 win in five innings at Mira Loma (0-17, 0-14) in Sacramento on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s exactly what we wanted to do,” said coach Danny Eoff. “We wanted everyone to come out here, hit the ball hard, make routine plays, throw strikes and take care of our own business.”
Woodland walloped the Matadors 19-1 on Tuesday in the City of Trees and is currently fourth in the GEL, two games behind Rio Linda.
“It’s good to see coach Alec (Uhler) is doing a good job of just keeping the kids motivated, working on fundamentals, trying to sell them on the program and have a good time. It’s good to see that they’re improving, a couple years ago they didn’t offer a team,” Eoff recalled. “To come back two years in a row, play games against them and see the progression is great.”
In the series opener at Clark Field, Mira Loma scored once in the top of the first inning. The Wolves responded with 3 runs in the first and third innings, respectively, 5 in the second and 8 in the fourth to win in lopsided fashion.
“With playoffs coming up, we want to make sure that we stay focused and continue to get better,” Eoff explained. “I tell them ‘We’re not going to be concerned about the other team, we’re just going to go up there, swing at good pitches and try to execute our game plan. It’s a good chance to get other people in the game, move things around and experiment a little bit getting ready for playoffs.”
Sophomore catcher Dylan Ramirez and junior second baseman Joseph Cadotte led the way Tuesday, each tallying a 2-for-3 day with a game-high 4 runs batted in, 3 runs scored, 1 double and 1 hit by pitch. Ramirez also recorded a stolen base and Cadotte drew a walk. Freshman shortstop PJ Pinegar and sophomore right-handed pitcher Dylan Johns added 2 RBI, respectively.
Sophomore RHP David Tanner was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI, 2 runs, 2 stolen bags, 1 double and 1 walk. Tanner (4-2) tossed all 5.0 frames to earn the win. He allowed 3 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 HBP and 1 SB with 7 strikeouts on an efficient 57 pitches.
As for the road contest in Sacramento, Woodland scored 6 runs in the first inning, 1 in the second, 3 in the fourth and 2 in the fifth. The Wolves were propelled to another five-inning victory by two inside-the-park home runs from senior 2B Brayden Farnham and junior outfielder Diego Bautista.
Farnham made the most of his only hit, clearing the loaded bases and reaching home safely to score the fourth run off one swing of the lumber. Bautista went 2-for-3 with 1 triple, 1 homer, 1 RBI and 1 run.
“Farnham’s inside-the-park home run was sick. We had two, with Bautista, which I thought was great,” recalled sophomore LHP Aiden Lopez. “They were just booking it, two of the fastest guys on the team, it took them like 10 seconds to get around the bases and it was really fun.”
The superb sophomore pitching duo of Tanner and Johns each went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Tanner tallied 2 extra base hits with 1 double and 1 triple, falling a homer shy of a cycle. Johns added 2 stolen bags.
“Lopez was amazing on the mound. We had 12 hits, 5 for extra bases, including two inside-the-park home runs, so we came out and played Woodland baseball,” Eoff said. “Tanner did a great job at the plate. He was seeing the ball well, placing it in the gaps and pulling it down the line with some power, so it was a great day for him.”
Lopez (2-4) went 1-for-3 at the plate and earned his second victory on the bump in 2024. The lefty pitched all 5.0 innings, giving up only 1 hit, 1 unearned run in the third, 2 SB, 1 walk and 1 HBP with a staggering 11 Ks on 80 pitches.
“I just thought of the simplest things to keep it basic and throw strikes, that’s what works against teams like this,” Lopez explained. “It was fun, our team was going at it with the bats, just ding, ding, all running. We’re just trying to have fun these last two weeks against these teams and get through it.”
Thursday’s game was nostalgic for Lopez, who made his first varsity start last season at Mira Loma.
“Last year on this field, I had the same catcher as a freshman too, that was fun. I don’t think I’m going to miss the mound, I’ll tell you that! I tripped on it like three times,” Lopez recalled. “Coming out here, I just thought about last year and our season. In the next few years, we’ll have a strong chance to get back. We have the same goal every year to just keep winning.
“These next few years are huge for us with the incoming freshmen and a new team, we’ll rebuild and I think we have a good shot.”
Woodland will go for the sweep of the Matadors back at home Friday at 4:15 p.m. The Wolves will conclude the regular season with a three-game GEL set versus Mesa Verde (6-18, 3-13) next week.
“We’re trying to finish on a good note,” Eoff foretold. “We ran into some bumps with Pioneer and Casa (Roble) so we’re just trying to get back in the win column, put a stretch together of some good wins and try to peak at the right time going into the playoffs.”
