Local Baseball

Bad weather continued to plague our region’s high school baseball schedules. Besides several games being canceled, we suspect wet and sloppy fields contributed to the many errors and unearned runs seen in the box scores for games played last week. Whatever the case, here is a summary of how the teams we’re following are doing:

Bear River Bruins: This past week, the Bruins were shut out (0-8) by the Lincoln Fighting Zebras on 3/27 when the Fighting Zebras’ senior Jackson Cook struck out 17 over the course of seven innings. The following afternoon, the Bruins turned the table and shut out the Zebras (3-0), with junior Kaden Nicolls striking out 15 of Lincoln’s batters in six innings. Thus, yesterday (after our deadline), the Bruins record stood at 7-2 when they visited the 2-11-1 Marysville Indians.

Chester Volcanos: On 3/26, the Volcanos bounced back from their 7-23 loss to the Quincy Trojans on 3/25 by outscoring the Portola Tigers 15-7. This victory was sealed in the fifth inning when the Volcanos drew five walks and 11 runners crossed the plate.

Colfax Falcons: Since our last edition, the Falcons put together a three-game winning streak by beating the Marysville Indians twice (3-1 and 14-9) and taking a 9-1 victory over Antelope’s Center Cougars. Today, 4/3, the Falcons (currently in third place in the Pioneer Valley League) will take an 8-4 overall record into their game against the 8-3 Wheatland Pirates (now fourth in the PVL).

Lassen Grizzlies: On Friday, 3/28, with his three hits producing six runs batted in, senior Tony Carvalho led the Grizzlies to a 12-6 win over Oroville’s Las Plumas Thunderbirds. However, in last Friday’s second game against the Thunderbirds, Carvalho went hitless while the Thunderbirds’ pitcher, Hunter George, tossed seven innings and gave up only two hits, two walks, and no runs for a 3-0 win.

Loyalton Grizzlies: At a non-conference tournament held on 3/21-3/22, the Grizzlies opened by posting a 10-2 win over the Redding Christian Lions. The Grizzlies’ pitcher in this game, junior Cooper Holland, struck out 15 during his six innings on the mound. He also garnered three hits, a walk, a stolen base, an RBI, and scored three runs. During their second game of the three-game set, an 18-5 rout of the Fall River Bulldogs, Holland plus Brysyn Lake (Jr) and Gus Petterson (Sr) each drove in three runs while Thor Corcoran (So) had three hits in four plate appearances and drove in two runs The game ended after four innings. The following day, Loyalton faced the Modoc Braves, and plagued by four unearned runs, the Grizzlies were defeated 3-8.

Modoc Braves: Since our last edition, the Braves swept two four-inning games on 3/26 against the Plumas Charter Warriors, 11-1 (where Modoc stole nine bases) and 6-3 (fueled largely by two hits and three RBIs from freshman Bruce Lewis), for an 8-1 won-loss record. Thus, the Braves’ MaxPrep ranking within California rose 24 places, from 213 to 189.

Nevada Union Miners: Fortunately, the Miners ended a four-game losing streak by beating the Placer Hillmen by 11-6 on Saturday, 3/29. In a sloppy game (the Miners made four errors and the Hillmen made five), Xavier Deniz (Jr) continued to be hot at the plate with four hits in five at-bats and two RBIs while scoring three runs. Yesterday, too late for this edition, the Miners, with an overall record of 8-7, traveled to Lincoln for a game with the 5-8 Twelve Bridges Raging Rhinos. Will Deniz have a third straight multi-hit game on a soggy ballfield?

Placer Hillmen: Despite losing to the Miners on 3/29, the Hillmen remain fourth in the Foothill Valley League (FVL). So, Placer’s upcoming three-game series - on 4/7, 4/9, and 4/11 - with the FVL’s fifth-place team, the Twelve Bridgers Raging Rhinos, needs to be won by the Hillmen if they want to keep their place on the ladder.

Plumas Charter Warriors: The oddsmakers were prescient; the Warriors now have an overall 4-7 record after losing twice to the strong Modoc Braves on 3/26 and walloping the Hamilton Braves 15-3 on 4/1. Evergreen League play will start for the Warriors on 4/7 against the Loyalton Grizzlies.

Portola Tigers: On Wednesday, 3/26, the Tigers hosted the Chester Volcanos and lost 7-15. However, on Friday, 3/28, the team traveled to play the Virginia City Muckers for a 13-8 victory. Meanwhile, Mid-Valley League play began yesterday when the 4-3 Tigers traveled to the 6-2 Maxwell Panthers for a doubleheader. We’ll report the results of this game next week.

Quincy Trojans: Since our last report, the Trojans hosted the Hamilton Braves for two games on 3/31 and lost both games, 0-7 and 3-9, taking their overall to seven wins and five losses. Since the Trojans’ next opponent, the Chester Volcanos, beat them back on 3/25 by 23-7, betting on them would be a long shot.

Truckee Wolverines: As predicted here last week, the Wolverines shellacked the Sparks Railroaders on 3/26 and beat the South Tahoe Vikings twice on 3/29. So, the Wolverines are now leading Nevada’s North-West League with a 6-0 record. Yesterday, after our deadline, the team faced the only other undefeated team in the league, the 3-0 North Valleys Panthers.