The Varsity Baseball team handily beat the Vintage Crushers in the Championship game of the Concord Classic 7-1 on Wednesday to push their impressive record to 14-0. According to approximately 20 years of Max Preps data and after consulting with local Acalanes historians, this appears to be the greatest start for any Acalanes Varsity Baseball team in the history of the school. The 2023 Dons also won their last 2 games of their season, so this means that the program is riding a 16 game winning streak, as well. Wow!
The squad captured 3 wins in the Concord Classic over Spring Break with victories over Antioch, San Leandro and Vintage. After a couple of days of nice weather the boys played under cloudy skies with windy conditions on Wednesday. Sully Bailey had a monstrous game at the plate, going 3-3 with a single, double and a triple. He stole a base, scored 2 runs and knocked in 2 runs in his outstanding day.
Shortstop James Stadt stayed red hot with another couple of hits and newcomer, left fielder Ando Butner had his first big day as a Don at the plate with a hit, walk, run scored, stolen base and 2 RBIs. The bases were active for the boys in blue for most of the game.
Centerfielder Keegan Goddard continued his steady defensive and added 2 hits, a walk, stolen base and 3 runs scored to his all around game. Keegan is having a great season.
A trio of Dons pitchers combined to limit the Crushers to a single run. Isaac Copen started on the mound for the boys and got in a little early trouble in the 1st inning. He ended up giving up a run before Peter Thorn closed the frame. Peter put up 4 zeros the following 4 innings to help the boys take control of the contest. Thorn went 4.2 innings, giving up no runs, 3 hits, 2 walks and striking out 5 in another dominating effort.
Branson Smith took the hill for the boys in the 6th inning and looked fantastic in his 7th appearance of the season. He struck out 2 and faced the minimum amount of Vintage hitters in the 6th and 7th inning to absolutely shut the door on the Crushers and send the Acalanes faithful home happy!
The entire team played well defensively in the Concord Classic. The outfield was led by centerfielder Keegan Goddard and dynamic right fielder David Gonzales. In this tournament and throughout the year the infield has also been special, with sweet swinging Sully Bailey at first base, “The Vacum” Mason Zirkel at second base, “Big Game” James Stadt at shortstop and last week, third baseman “ Mr. Versatile” Everett Glass.
League play begins this week with the Dons heading to Northgate to start the season on Tuesday before the “League Home Opener” on Thursday at 4pm. The weather forecast looks great. Let’s pack Ken Souza Field and get the boys started with their league campaign. Amazing things are being achieved this season, so buckle up for a fun ride and come to a game. Have I seen this play before? Go Dons!
