CR baseball keeps stacking wins
CR softball team on losing streak; Cal Poly softball preps for CCAA play
CR baseball at 7-0 to start season
The College of the Redwoods baseball team is off to one of the best starts in the state, beginning their 2024 season 7-0, which is tied for the best mark in the entire California Community College Athletic Association, alongside Modesto College.
It's the best start to the season for Corsair baseball in over 30 years and is a drastic one-year turnaround from last year's team that finished with only five wins in 34 games. The CR offense has averaged 9 runs a game so far this season while the Corsair pitching staff has allowed 3.57 runs per game in the season's first three weeks. The last time CR started a season 7-0 or better was in 1988 before any players on their active roster were born.
The Corsairs finished a weekend sweep over De Anza College on Saturday with a 2-1 win, with left-handed freshman Riley Bates getting the win after going six strong innings, allowing just one run while striking out nine batters. Following Bates, freshman Logan Makinowski pitched two shutout innings before sophomore Cam Witte got the save in the 9th. As a whole, the Corsair pitching staff allowed only six hits in the win.
At the plate, freshman Seth Grammer went 2-3 and scored one of CR's runs, with sophomore Dante Strazzullo finishing 2-4 on Saturday and sophomore Parker Rodgers doubling for the only extra-base hit of the game for the Corsairs.
CR will take a short hiatus in their season with no games scheduled till next Friday when Golden Valley Conference play begins on the road against Shasta College. The team still has not played at home, they don't have a scheduled home game till a doubleheader on March 15 in a conference series against Feather River College. The team has had multiple home games canceled due to weather, including a doubleheader Wednesday that was set to take place against College of the Siskiyous.
CR softball on a losing streak at 0-2
College of the Redwoods softball hasn't bursted out of the gates in quite the same way as the baseball team. They're currently 0-2 with games last weekend being canceled because of an illness spreading throughout the team. The team will have an opportunity at their first win this week with four games on the schedule, starting with a double-header Friday against Modesto College and then games Saturday against American River College and the College of San Mateo.
Cal Poly softball at 4-4 this season
The other local collegiate softball team, Cal Poly Humboldt sits at 4-4 after two high-scoring wins last week over Simpson University, winning 14-0 and then 11-4. The `Jacks will now jump into CCAA play on Friday on the road against Cal State Monterey Bay for a four-game series.
It's been a month and a half since Humboldt hired new head coach Megan Corriea. While the sample size is small, they've begun 2024 better than how the 2023 season opened for the `Jacks, when they began last season 2-10 before turning things around and finishing 26-27 on the year.
A trio of juniors have helped lead the `Jacks at the plate with outfielders Alyssa Ramirez and Hailey Meisenbach and infielder Izzy Starr each with a batting average of .333 or higher while starting all eight games for Humboldt. Freshman outfielder Hailee Moore has also provided a spark for the `Jacks, batting .316 with four stolen bases without being caught.
Junior pitcher Alyssa Smokey has continued a terrific career with Cal Poly Humboldt this season, pitching to a 2.07 earned run average in 20.1 innings over four games. Junior Gaige Garcia has been the other main arm for the `Jacks, pitching 17.2 innings while having a 3.17 ERA.
An area where Humboldt has outplayed its opponents is in the field, with the `Jacks committing only two errors, while opposing teams have made 18.