Eagles turn to ace pitcher No. 2 for win
Tuesday’s Central Section Division II baseball semifinal between Lemoore and Bakersfield Christian reaffirmed that the Eagles have more than one pitching ace.
While major league prospect and Texas Christian University commit Mason Brassfield was forced to rest his dynamic left arm and play center field, BCHS sophomore McCoy Silicz took to the mound and shut down the visiting Tigers in a 5-1 victory.
The first-year varsity player allowed one unearned run on three hits and issued two walks in 6 one-third innings to earn the victory, which improved his record to 12-2 this season. His ERA dropped to 1.28, and opponents are hitting less than .200 against him.
Silicz, who had eight strikeouts, said he knew he had his good stuff after the third inning.
“They weren’t hitting off me, so I was going to keep my good stuff and let them hit it to my defense because my defense is my biggest supporters,” he said.
The second-seeded Eagles next will play the winner No. 5 Santa Maria-St. Joseph and No. 9 Atascadero for the section championship on Friday at Valley Strong Ballpark in Visalia.
BCHS (25-5) heads to the title contest having won 16 straight games.
“It’s a win but it wasn’t our best win,” BCHS coach Mark Ratekin said. “We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities that we had. Going forward, it’s the little things that could cost us. But this team is resilient. They find ways to win.”
The victory over No. 6 Lemoore (22-9) featured more than just a stellar effort by Silicz. The Eagles had eight hits, including a two-out, two-run single by Kadyn Kirkley that gave BCHS a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning.
The Eagles never trailed but after scoring in the first inning on Deakin Brinkley’s double, BCHS let the Tigers the score in the fourth. A leadoff single by Tyson Kinter, an error and an infield single loaded the bases for Lemoore. A ground out to shortstop gave Lemoore a 1-all tie.
Leading by two-runs following Kirkley’s clutch hit, the Eagles extended their advantage by two more runs in the fifth after a walk by Brassfield
and back-to-back singles by Silicz and Logan Templeton.
Kirkley and Templeton each had two hits and were the only Eagles with multiple hits. Leadoff hitter Luke Mann reached base twice, once on a hit by pitch and once by a walk and scored twice. Brinkley drew two walks to go along with his double, the only extra-base hit by either team.
Two of the Tigers’ three hits off Silicz were infield singles. The other was a grounder up the middle that the young pitcher almost snagged before it skipped into center field.
Silicz was pulled with one out in the seventh after BCHS’ second error put runners on first and second. He had thrown 96 pitches and Ratekin felt that was enough. He said afterward that he normally doesn’t let his pitchers go past 85 pitches.
Cale Nielson quickly thwarted the Lemoore threat, retiring the first two batters he faced to end the game.
“We played great baseball,” Silicz said. “Dominant on the mound. The defense really helped me. Hitting started the first inning. Slacked off a little bit but then we got back at it. A great win.”
Silicz credits Brassfield with helping him with his evolution into a standout high school pitcher.
“He’s my biggest role model,” Silicz said. “He’s helped me right from the start. I was a JV kid. I just came up. This is my first year of varsity. He took me under his wing, and it’s been a great relationship.”
Brassfield is expected to pitch in the section championship game Friday.
Silicz is confident that Brassfield and the rest of his teammates will get the job done.
“I’ve always wanted to play for the best and this team is the best,” Silicz said. “It feels great. We’re going to work hard this week and come out with that win.”
One more win and BCHS will claim a second straight section championship.
“They’ve been working hard since September,” Ratekin said. “This is what they’ve worked for. This had been their goal. They have to go out and take care of business on Friday.”