After taking a 16-1 win on Friday, the Escalon JV baseball boys fought hard but fell short, 13-9, on Saturday. That gave them an opening week split of their non-league contests.

Friday they hosted Ceres and everything was working in the lopsided win.

“It was a great first game,” agreed head coach Ken Baptista. “Josh Miller went three innings and was the winning pitcher, Jacob Dugo came in and threw two innings of relief.”

The game went just five innings due to the 10-run rule.

“Top to bottom we got a bunch of hits,” Baptista said of the bats heating up early, with several players notching more than one hit in the season opener.

On Saturday, Feb. 29 they hosted Calaveras and had to battle back from early deficits to make a game of it.

“We were down 3-0 after the first and then were down 7-1 at one point,” Baptista said.

Eventually, the JV Cougars drew even with the visitors and the key hit was a two-RBI double from Miller. Calaveras then found a way to put a few more runs on the board in the top of the seventh and Escalon did not have an answer in their half of the frame, falling 13-9.

“Our pitching struggled but I like the way the boys fought back,” said the coach. “This is my eighth year coaching baseball and I have never had a team that has bonded this quickly.”

Like their varsity counterparts, the JV team already has the feel of a midseason squad in terms of familiarity and how well they play with and for each other.

“Even when we were down against Calaveras, there was never a negative comment, the kids are always pulling for each other,” Baptista said.

The JV boys will also be at home for Wednesday and Thursday games this week, hosting Mountain House and East Union, then travel for a March 6 game at Patterson.