The Varsity Baseball team started their season in style with a come from behind 4-2 win in Martinez on Thursday and an impressive 10-5 W at home on Friday under sunny skies. The Dons first game was against the Alhambra Bulldogs. Lefty Henry Souza took the mound for the boys in blue and the 2024 campaign was officially underway. The Varsity team features some new faces this year. The squad is a nice mix of older and younger players with a ton of pitching, team speed and heart.
Henry engaged in a pitching duel with a skilled Alhambra hurler who is headed to Chico State to pitch in college. Souza, also headed to pitch in college, went 5 innings, giving up 2 runs, 3 hits, and a walk as he struck out 7 Bulldogs. He left after 5, trailing 2-0 with no run support.
The Dons offense had several runners on base the first 3 innings, but could not get the big hit when they needed it. Sophomore Branson Smith came in to pitch to start the 6th inning and made a successful Varsity debut. Smith gave up two infield hits to put two runners on with one out to start his outing. He was then able to coax a ground ball to second baseman Mason Zirkel who made a quick scoop to shortstop James Stadt for the force at second before Stadt fired to first for the inning ending double play!
The play kept the score at Alhambra 2 Acalanes 0 heading into the top of the 7th inning. It was now or never time. Sometimes a sweet defensive play can inspire the offense and that was the case for the Dons. First baseman Sully Bailey led off the inning with a sharp single to centerfield. He eventually advanced to second base on a passed ball. After an out, Mason Zirkel came to bat. On a 3-2 pitch he took an outside fastball to left field for a double that scored Bailey and cut the Bulldog lead to 2-1.
Everett Glass then pinch hit and walked after battling back from a 0-2 count. Centerfielder Keegan Goddard followed and singled for his second hit of the day to load the bases. Keegan swung the bat well all game. After a groundout that forced Zirkel at home for the second out of the inning, catcher Benji O’Rourke came up and walked to tie the game. O’Rourke had an excellent game with 2 hits, 2 walks and an RBI, hitting third.
Now it was time for Sophomore DH Isaac Copen to play the hero and he did! Isaac drilled a single to centerfield to score two Dons and give the boys a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. Branson Smith came back out to finish the comeback win, but Alhambra would not go quietly. After a walk and a wild pitch, the Bulldogs had a runner on second with one out. The next hitter flew to right on a 3-1 pitch before Smith struck out the final batter to end the game!
It was a tasty road win for the Dons to start the season. Acalanes 4 Alhambra 2. The boys started slowly, but as we learned with football, it’s not always how you start, it’s how you finish that matters most.
The boys then took on the always strong Heritage High School Patriots on Friday, at home, at Ken Souza Field. It was a beautiful day for baseball. Peter Thorn took the mound for the Dons and the home 2024 season was underway.
Peter and the defense got off to a bumpy start in the first inning and fell behind 3-0. Fortunately this team seems to be a mentally tough, resilient crew. Acalanes fought back the entire game. Thorn got after it and ended up going 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up 2 earned runs, with no walks and 4 strikeouts.
Keegan Goddard walked to start the first inning for the Dons. He managed to advance and score on a stolen base and a couple of wild pitches to cut the Patriot lead to 3-1. Keegan had an excellent day with 2 hits, 2 stolen bases, a walk and 2 runs scored. He is off to a great start this season.
With the pitching and defense back in check the boys really got the scoring going in the 4th and 5th innings. Sully Bailey reached on an error to start the 4th innings. Then the boys in blue played a little small ball. Shortstop James Stadt bunted for a hit to get on and advance Bailey, followed by the second successful sacrifice bunt of the game for second baseman Mason Zirkel and a picture perfect suicide squeeze by left fielder Everett Glass to score a streaking James Stadt from third to tie the game at 3-3!
That sequence of plays changed the completion and the momentum of the game completely. The crowd exploded! Centerfielder Goddard kept the party going with a double before right fielder David Gonzales smoked a ball over the Patriot’s right fielder’s head for a triple to score Keegan and give the Dons a lead that they would never give up. Gonzales would eventually score on a wild pitch to make the score Acalanes 5 Heritage 3. David had a nice game with 2 hits, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs and a walk.
The Dons hitters stayed red hot in the 5th inning with 5 hits and 3 walks. Isaac Copen singled, third baseman Gavin Bender walked, first baseman Sully Bailey singled to plate Copen, shortstop James Stadt hit a sacrifice fly to score Bender, Mason Zirkel walked, Everett Glass singled to knock in Bailey, Goddard singled, Gonzales singled to score Zirkel, catcher Benji O’Rourke walked to plate Glass and before you knew it the boys led 10-3! Jake Colaco made his Varsity pitching debut with one out in the 6th inning to relieve Peter Thorn. After giving up a walk he coaxed a perfect double play ball to shortstop James Stadt who gobbled up the grounder before making an on target toss to second baseman Mason Zirkel who fired a strike to first for the inning ending DP.
Hank Bauer also made his pitching debut when he took the hill for the Dons in the 7th inning to close out the win. The Patriots added a couple of meaningless runs in the 6th and 7th inning, resulting in a final score of Acalanes 10 Heritage 5.
The game was attended by a festive crowd with a large group of students supporting the Ballers on a picture perfect day for baseball in Lafayette. The boys in blue look solid after overcoming some initial missteps in both games to finish strong and jump out to a 2-0 start.
The Dons square off against the San Ramon Valley Wolves on Wednesday in San Ramon at 3:30pm before taking on the Miramonte Matadors at home on Friday at 3:30pm. You can’t beat fun at the old ballpark! Come on out to cheer on this special team this year. Go Dons!!!