Just a handful of contests remain for teams during this spring sports season at Escalon High School.
All were busy this past week, with games and matches for boys volleyball, baseball, softball, tennis, boys golf and track and field. Following is a recap of the action.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Falling on the road, the varsity volleyball boys regrouped and came back to get a win at home.
They faced off first against Orestimba on the road, April 7, a team they had beaten 3-1 earlier in the season.
“Unfortunately, we had a very slow start and never got our momentum going in this match,” said head coach Shay Beam. “We lost in an upsetting three sets, 22-25, 15-25 and 28-30.”
The coach said the team “came out hot and honestly a little angry” in the third set but ultimately lost it by the two-point margin to get swept by the host Warriors.
“It was a game of errors on our part, we missed 17 serves,” Beam explained. “We got back in the gym, though, Tuesday, worked a lot on serving, blocking and defense and were ready to play for Senior Night against Riverbank on Wednesday (April 9).”
They won against the visiting Bruins in three, 25-9, 25-16, 25-15.
“It was nice to come out and have fun Wednesday night,” the coach said. “Danny Gonzalez served 14 serves in a row the first set and was a big part of our dominance in set one.”
Other notable statistics from the game showed Ben Ferreira, Mikie Lourenco and Gonzalez with three aces apiece; Preston Berhorst had 11 kills, Carson Medina added eight. Gonzalez had seven kills in the contest and Lourenco had five.
At the JV level, the boys hosted the Ripon Christian freshmen on Wednesday, as Riverbank does not have a JV team. Head coach Alyssa Cogburn said the JV boys swept RC, 25-19, 25-13.
Jerenai Maglalang had two aces while Jake Ferreira had four kills, Nathan Green had four blocks and Noah Martin was strong in the back row with 16 digs.
BASEBALL
A tough week for the varsity baseball team saw the Cougars losing a pair of TVL games to Hughson.
They were on the road Wednesday and back at home Friday.
“We played well in both games, just a few mental mistakes by us cost us the games,” head coach Gino Franceschetti explained.
In game one the Cougars took a 6-1 loss.
“Brody Abbot had a perfect game going into the sixth,” the coach said. “We had an error and Hughson capitalized on it, then the flood gates opened.”
He said his team hit the ball really hard but had nothing to show for it.
The lone run came off the bat of Abbot, who notched a home run to help his team avoid the shutout.
“Game two we were tied going into the fifth, we had a really bad mental mistake with two outs and they ended up scoring eight runs after that mistake,” said Franceschetti.
Escalon ended up losing by a 13-4 final.
“Both teams’ offenses were hitting the ball really well,” Franceschetti added. “To beat a team like Hughson, we would need to play mistake-free ball and we couldn’t do it.”
Leading the way for Escalon in the Friday game were Lorenzo Teixeira, 2-for-2 with a home run and a double; Dylan Ball, 2-for-4; Cole Fox, Ian Burk and Josh Fiori each had a hit.
This week, the Cougars look to get back in the win column; they will be at Ripon on April 16 and host the Indians on Apil 17.
The JV boys, meanwhile, fell to Hughson on Wednesday but cleaned up their game and got the win on Friday.
In the April 9 contest, it was a 12-2 Hughson win.
“Three costly errors led to five unearned runs, nine total ‘extra’ runs but that’s baseball,” said JV coach Carlos Herrera.
Friday at home, the JV squad came away with a 9-7 victory.
“We took advantage of some timely hitting, and came out on top,” Herrera said. “We made the plays when it mattered and pulled it off.”
The coach said Cole Elsholz “stepped up when Drew Hagan got the well-deserved call up to the varsity” and made his presence felt in a big way.
“He ended the game with an amazing turn and run catch to seal it,” Herrera explained. “Great team win.”
SOFTBALL
Just one game was on the schedule for Escalon’s varsity softball girls this past week and they lost at Hughson by a 7-2 final on April 8.
“We scored two runs in the first off of a single from Ari Velasco that scored Madison Babasa,” said head coach Caitlin Schulte. “Ari then stole second, advanced to third and scored on two Hughson errors. After the first inning we had a difficult time adjusting at the plate.”
Babasa and Genevieve Casazza each went 2-for-3, Velasco was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
“Kaylynn McCutcheon started for us in the circle,” Schulte added. “She limited Hughson to four hits and had four strikeouts.”
Babasa came on in relief in the middle of the fourth.
The girls are to be back on the home diamond to host Orestimba on Thursday, April 17.
For the JV girls, it was a lopsided loss to Hughson, falling by a 22-3 final in their only game of the week.
TENNIS
In a make up of a previously rained out match against Millennium High School, the Cougars were 8-1 winners in the April 9 event.
Picking up forfeit wins were boys number one singles Nathan Rose; boys number one doubles Daniel Adams and Luca Cerasi; and girls number one doubles Emma Rangel and Marina Franzia. Notching wins on the court were Landon Underwood at boys number two singles and Violet DaSilva at girls number two singles. In doubles play, Cooper Fugett and Maddox Neilsen were winners at number two boys doubles with Ashlyn Paxman and Haven MacKinnon winning at number two girls doubles. Also winning were mixed doubles Brien Novetzke and Laura Schussmann.
The only loss of the afternoon came at girls number one singles, with Kali Castellanos falling to her Millennium opponent.
BOYS GOLF
In the sixth Trans-Valley League event of the season this past week, hosted by Escalon, it was Ripon taking first place honors with a team low score of 409. They were followed by Hughson at 472; Ripon Christian 473; Sonora 504; Escalon in fifth at 510; Hilmar at 544 and Orestimba at 769.
Dominic Arauza carded the team low 91 on the day for the Cougars, with Brenden Berchtold close behind at 94. Donovan Martinez shot a 99, Matix Trimble 110 and Clayton Cox at 116.
“Donovan and Clayton had their best rounds of the year,” head coach Brandon Hoover said of the contest.
TRACK AND FIELD
It was Escalon hosting Hughson for a TVL dual meet on Wednesday, April 9.
Head coach Arend Jones said the Hughson boys got the better of Escalon, 97-39, but the Escalon girls were solid in an 83-53 league win.
There were some strong efforts for the Cougars on the afternoon, said Jones.
“Junior Chase Cummings took first in the high jump with a personal record of 5’ 8” and senior Calan Crumbley took first in the 400 meters with a PR of 52.26 seconds,” Jones pointed out. “For the girls, the throws and jumps were a dominating force.”
Escalon swept the shot put and discus events for the girls.
“Sophomore Gloria Segura, junior Gracie Airola, junior Marissa Terry, freshman Yesenia Marsellis and senior Kamille Thomas nearly all getting PRs,” Jones said.
Saturday, the team headed to Hughson for the Vintage Invite.
Freshman Ian Trejo was second in the frosh-soph high jump; sophomore Jaecy Aldasoro took second in both shot put and discus and junior Gloria Segura took second in shot put.
“The boys four-by-200 varsity and frosh/soph took third and second,” said the coach. “And the girls 4-by-100 throwers relay took second.”
On April 16, Escalon is scheduled to host both Ripon and Ripon Christian for a TVL meet.
