The Woodland High School varsity baseball team sorely lacked the final clutch hit in some fortunate situations late in their Golden Empire League matchup against Casa Roble, and in the end, it cost them the second game of their three-game series by the score of 5-1.
Despite loading the bases twice in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings Thursday evening at Clark Field, the Wolves (7-7, 5-6 GEL) couldn’t sequence their at-bats in an order that scored more than one run. They dropped the second straight game to the Rams (13-7, 9-2 GEL) and fell another game back in the tight league standings.
“We were there the whole game,” Wolves head coach Danny Eoff said. “They let us stick around. Our offense right now is just non-existent. We are not manufacturing runs. We left 13 or 14 guys on base at the end, and that is just not going to get it done against a playoff-caliber team like Casa Roble.”
The Wolves came into the matchup after a 7-1 loss Tuesday in game one of the series at Casa Roble High School. Joseph Quezada had the best day at the plate, recording 2 hits, with a double and eventually scoring a run. Brayden Farnham, PJ Pinegar, David Tanner and Richard Sandoval all recorded a hit each.
Before that, the Wolves had only played one game the week before, which was a make-up game against Dixon due to a rainout back on April 4. Despite winning the series’ first two games by scores of 7-3 and 6-3, the Wolves lost the rescheduled game two by a score of 5-3 at Dixon.
Casa Roble came into the series with a little extra motivation after dropping two out of three games to GEL league leaders Pioneer High School last week. After taking game one at Pioneer’s Rotary Field on April 9 by the score of 5-3, they’d go on to lose the final two games of the series 6-5 and 2-1.
As of Friday morning, the Wolves find themselves in fourth place in the GEL, one game up on Dixon, which lost to Pioneer Thursday night.
“It wasn’t ideal not to play an entire series last week, so we tried to keep our routine as normal as possible,” Eoff said. “When we are on spring break, our mindset can change, and it’s hard to bring our A-game every time.”
Casa Roble quickly took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Woodland got one back in the bottom of the second. The Rams catcher tried to pick off freshman PJ Pinegar at first base, but the throw sailed over the second baseman’s head, allowing junior Aidan Olsen to score from third and make it 2-1.
A full inning later, the Rams got it back in the top of the fourth to retake a two-score lead and make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Wolves ran into their roadblock of the night, as they stranded the bases loaded. With two outs, Pinegar reached first base safely on an error after the Casa Roble third baseman just refused to get a handle on the ball for a throw to first to end the inning. After the error, Pinegar found himself safe at first base with Joseph Cadotte on second and Dylan Ramirez on third. The next batter, however, harmlessly grounded out, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Wolves once again managed to load the bases. Richard Sandoval reached base first on a single and vacated his baserunning duties to Diego Bautista. Cadotte then drew a walk before Ramirez reached first safely after an error, this time from the second baseman.
With the pressure on and a tie on the horizon, the Wolves’ next batter flew out to center, ending the inning.
“We’ve been working on knowing what to look for at the plate, but right now, we just aren’t getting it done with our at-bats,” Eoff said. “Especially when the other team is trying to give us runs. We got a lot of walks and errors, but we just couldn’t get the timely hit to get it done.”
In the top of the seventh, the Rams added two more seemingly innocent but backbreaking runs to make it 5-1 and never looked back. After a scoreless bottom half of the seventh, Casa Roble ran off the field and onto the bus back home with a second straight win.
Wolves sophomore Aiden Lopez pitched six innings of solid baseball, striking out 6 while allowing 3 hits, 3 runs and 5 walks. Ramirez, Olsen and Sandoval were the only Wolves to earn a hit on the night.
Pinegar and Cadotte drew 2 walks, while Farnham, Ramirez, David Tanner and Dylan Johns each drew 1.
Up next for the Wolves will be the final game of the series, set for Friday at Casa Roble, with the first pitch set for 4:15 p.m.
After that, the Wolves will begin a three-game series against Mira Loma, with game one set for Tuesday, April 23, at Clark Field. Game two will be at Mira Loma on Thursday before the final third game of the series on Friday, April 26, back at Clark. All games will start at 4:15 p.m.
“I just want us to compete,” Eoff said. “I think we need to compete more and find more energy, go out there and play with some pride. Play with confidence, not stay back on our heels, and be the aggressor for once. We are a young team, so in a tight race, we are waiting to see who will step up and make that leap.”
