13 strikeouts against anyone, let alone a team in the playoffs is pretty impressive.
Thanks to a phenomenal game from sophomore pitcher Aiden Lopez, the Woodland High School varsity baseball team defeated Union Mine in a sweat-free 7-1 game Tuesday evening, advancing them to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV quarterfinals.
“I like how the game went today, so let’s keep it that way,” Wolves manager Danny Eoff said. “You never know how guys will come out and handle the intensity of the playoffs but we came out swinging right from the jump.”
The Wolves (14-8, 11-7 Golden Empire League) came into their opening-round playoff matchup at Clark Field following a third-place finish in the league behind champions Pioneer High School and runners-up Casa Roble. That finish proved vital, as it earned them a No. 8 seed in D4 and a first-round home game.
No. 9 seed Union Mine (9-16, 6-9 Sierra Valley Conference) entered the matchup after finishing fourth in their league behind Bradshaw Christian, El Dorado and Liberty Ranch.
As Eoff mentioned, the Wolves’ bats were hitting early. They led off with three straight singles, churning them into 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning. However, Union Mine showed that in the playoffs, there are no easy draws immediately getting one back in the top of the second inning to cut the lead in half.
Woodland responded right away in the bottom half of the second when Diego Bautista led off with a double and eventually found his way home after a few bad throws to make it 3-1 and restore the 2-run lead.
In the top of the third inning, Lopez, who was absolutely dealing, ran into some potential trouble when a Diamondbacks player safely rounded into third base. With the pressure on and another runner on first, Lopez locked in and struck out his seventh batter of the night of the night to get out of the jam.
“I didn’t think much on the mound,” Lopez said. “I took the signs from the coach and pitched. Everything was working. My changeup/fastball combo was my favorite today. I mixed in the curveball, and their hitters would be so lost by it.”
The Wolves capitalized on the moment in the bottom half of the third with 2 more runs. Dylan Ramirez led off with a single and ended up on second base after a bad throw to first. David Tanner was hit by a pitch, allowing him to reach first safely.
With Ramirez now on third base, freshman shortstop PJ Pinegar hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Ramirez and making it 4-1. After a few batters later, a Dylan Johns infield single scored Tanner from third base to make it 5-1.
In the top of the fourth, Lopez tacked on two more strikeouts to get to 9 and keep the Wolves comfortably ahead. In the bottom of the fourth, “JoJo” Quezada and Ramirez both scored, extending the lead to the eventual 7-1 score.
With all of his pitches working, Lopez came out and added 4 more strikeouts in the top of the fifth and sixth innings to end with 13. Lopez finished the night throwing six innings with the 13 strikeouts mentioned above while only allowing 2 hits and 3 walks.
“He (Lopez) was awesome today,” Eoff said. “It’s hard to tell when you get a younger guy who is going to start in a big game like this and how he will respond. He came out and dominated in a true playoff atmosphere with the game on the line. We trusted him to start, and it really showed why we did.
“He got some good pitches and he comes from a different side (as a lefty). He mixes up his speeds and arm slots so he does a good job of keeping everyone off balance.”
Tanner, the ace of the Wolves’ pitching staff, came out for the final inning and struck out a couple of Diamondbacks.
Up next for the Wolves will be a quarterfinal against familiar foes Casa Roble, who earned a No. 1 seed and first-round bye in D4. During league play earlier this year, the Rams swept the Wolves 7-1, 5-1 and 6-4.
“The biggest thing for us during the Casa week was energy,” Lopez recalled. “I wouldn’t blame the heat, but things started getting hotter and guys started sweating a lot more. I think Casa are a great team, but there were times in that series where we could have played a lot better. I expect us to hit a lot better on Thursday.”
The first pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Casa Roble High School.
“I want to see some fire and pride,” Eoff said. “Losing to the same team three times does something to your ego. So I want us to go in there and know that all the games we played against them were close. It’s one game, and the winner advances to the semifinals.”
