On an unseasonably warm Saturday, Acalanes Baseball JV team kicked off the Spring 2022 preseason with a couple of home-field scrimmages: a morning game against Las Lomas, and an afternoon contest against Pinole Valley High. While technically the scores didn’t matter, this was a good test of the team’s readiness to the regular season that starts on Feb 22.
The morning game started with Dons getting ahead early, and never relinquishing the lead. Mason Zirkel wasted no time in getting things going in 1st with a leadoff stand-up double to the left, and promptly scored on a double from Wyatt Cooper. In 2nd, Aidan Yates knocked in James Stadt with a line drive right down the middle. After a quiet 3rd, Everett Glass singled to the right, scoring Jake Boselli. The game remained tight until 6th, with Las Lomas hanging tough and narrowing the Dons’ lead to a single run, but then the Dons broke things open with a solid series of hits: Everett lead off with a single, Aidan Yates hit a monster triple, Mason followed with another double to almost the same spot down the left field line, and then hustled on the bases, scoring after a botched pickoff attempt. Dons pitchers were in control all along: Peter Thorn threw 3 scoreless innings, Jake added one, and Keegan Goddard finished the game off with 3 strong innings. While Dons fielding was shaky at times, the overall defensive performance was solid, the Knights were never able to get much going, and the game outcome never felt in doubt. Dons 6, Las Lomas 2.
The afternoon game has been pretty tense all the way to the end. Dons’ pitching was once again strong, with Jack Giorgianni throwing 3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit, and Mason Zirkel stepping in for 4 more, and yielding just 2 unearned runs. However, the Dons struggled in stringing hits together, and while there were plenty of baserunners (on 7 hits, 3 walks, and 2 hit by a pitch), scoring them was proving elusive. The pitching was dominating on both sides, helped by a generous strike zone. The game remained scoreless for the first 3 innings, and Pinole Spartans were able to get a run in 4th and 7th. Pinole pitchers were effective in keeping Dons bats mostly quiet, and Dons didn’t help their cause with some baserunning miscues. All of that changed in bottom 7th, when Dons, scoreless and trailing by 2, mounted a furious comeback. James Stadt and Peter Thorn hustled their way into back-to-back singles, and moved up on steals. Much excitement ensued after Aidan Yates‘s groundout, with both base runners caught in a (poorly executed) rundown, but after much action both runners ended up safe, back where they started. This proved to make all the difference, because two pitches later Keegan Goddard hit a towering fly ball to the gap on the right, tying up the game at 2, and ending up on 3rd, with 1 out. Mason then completed the comeback with an emphatic walk-off hit over the left fielder’s head. Dons 3, Pinole 2.
Game scores aside, the scrimmages have showed what the team is capable of, and areas needing work. The JV team is clearly loaded with talent, but (to no one’s surprise) is not hitting on all cylinders yet. Still, there are many promising signs of a very good season coming up.
