Pitching shines in dominant weekend
There was a bevy of baseball games played over the weekend, and more than a few young men deserve to be recognized for their efforts.
So recognize them, we will.
Eagles 19-U go 5-1 on the weekend
The Humboldt Eagles 19-U squad improved to 15-2 on the summer with a Friday doubleheader sweep (and total shutout) of visiting Sacramento 911, a Saturday doubleheader split with the visiting West Coast Kings and another pair of wins on Sunday. All games were played at St. Bernard’s.
Ruiz, Sears shine
Former St. Bernard’s ace and current College of the Redwoods pitcher Caleb Ruiz shut down Sacramento in Friday’s opener, delivering a completegame no-hitter. Ruiz struck out 10 and walked three. He surrendered no hits in the 1-0 win.
The game’s lone run was made possible by a sixth-inning sacrifice-fly RBI off the bat of Hayden Bode. Landon Gomes scored the run, and went 2-for-3 in the contest.
Washington State commit Merek Sears followed with a complete-game shutout of his own. The former Arcata Tiger struck out 14 and gave up two hits and zero walks in what was a 5-0 Eagles win.
Parker Rodgers had two hits in the win and Gomes, two
walks and an RBI.
Saturday split
Game one on Saturday went to the Eagles by a 7-2 count. Stanford commit Nick Dugan got the start and showed no love with an 11 strikeout performance. He gave up one hit, two walks and two earned runs.
At the dish Keenan Morris went 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Cameron Saso and Rodgers each had one hit and one RBI.
Game two went to the Kings by a narrow 2-1 margin. Saso started at pitcher and went four innings, striking out four while giving up one hit and one walk. Bode and Gomes combined to handle the final three innings. They each gave up one earned.
Sunday fun-day
The Eagles finished off an impressive week of baseball
with a pair of wins, the first over Sacramento 911’s 16-U club and the second, against the Nor-Cal Nationals.
The Eagles dispatched 911 16-U 13-3. The Eagles put up 10 runs in the first inning and secured an early win after five innings. Branson Gans went 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Bode Joyner went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
The final game of the weekend saw the Eagles edge out Nor-Cal 3-2 in extra innings.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Jaden “walk-off” Gorge delivered again.
With two outs on the board and two strikes on the count, Gorge sent a rumbling grounder up the six-hole. Parker Rogers scored from second-base and Gorge, just as he did in a 4-3 win over the WBC Colts earlier in the week, rounded the bases in heroic fashion after adding another walk-off RBI to his summer bounty.
Eagles 17-U advance to tournament championship
Up in Arcata the Eagles 17-U club edged out Tehema 9-8 in what was the semifinal-round of a tournament.
Credit Reagan Nyberg for the title-game ticket. The outfielder snagged a long-shot off the fence with the bases loaded, preserving the Eagles’ 9-8 lead and eventual win. The gamesaving catch came after the Eagles saw a four-run seventh-inning lead dwindle to one run.
Rogan Bode went 3-for-5 with a double and three runs scored in the win. Nyberg and Brayden Youkey each had two hits, the former with two RBIs and the latter with three.
The Eagles beat Sutter 16-0 on Friday. Richard Reeves went 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Youkey had as many hits as Reeves while Rogan Bode and Nyberg each logged three hits.
The Eagles faced Sutter in the tournament’s championship game on Sunday but results for that contest have yet to be reported to the TimesStandard.
NoHum Giants fall to Sutter
The Arcata tournament’s home team, the Northern Humboldt Giants, fell 6-1 to Sutter on Saturday. Earlier in the week the Giants topped the Eagles’ 16-U club 7-3. No stats were provided for either contest.