Baseball
CCL Week Four Review, Week Five Look-Ahead

| July 13, 2021

It was an eventful week for the CCL, with each team playing a full slate of games. These last few weeks will be monumental for each team to solidify their position in the CCL playoffs in August, and there were some jumps in the standings. The Arroyo Seco Saints now lead the South Division, thanks to a perfect league week, while Healdsburg continues to dominate the North Division. Here is the CCL week four (June 6-11) review for all 10 clubs.

CCL North Division

Healdsburg Prune Packers: 17-2 overall, 7-0 Week 4

The Healdsburg Prune Packers stepped out of league play for two games against the Fresno A’s this past week, winning both non-conference games in commanding fashion, 20-2 and 17-0. The Prune Packers continued to dominate as they jumped back into CCL play with 13-5 and 7-3 victories over the Crawdads, and a double-header sweep of the Mudcats

Hance Smith (Cal Berkeley) had himself a week, posting eight hits in 20 at bats with three homers and 16 RBI to round out a .400 batting average for the week. Jesse Lopez (Cal State Fullerton) also kept his bat hot, going 12-for-28 (.429) with four doubles, three triples, two homers and six RBI.

Derek Bridges (Texas Tech) maintained the pace from the mound by only allowing two hits in 5.0 innings, striking out eight for a perfect 0.00 ERA on the week.

The Prune Packers will compete in three non-conference games and end the week with a match up against the Potters on Sunday.

-- Andi Basista

Lincoln Potters: 7-9 overall, 4-1 Week 4

The Potters exploded offensively this week, putting up 21 total runs in two games against the Gold Sox and Walnut Creek Crawdads. The team took a trip north to Oregon and won two out of  three against the Medford Rogue.

Carson Blatnick (Washington) hit a home run and had an RBI in their 12-4 win against the Gold Sox. Jacob Shaver (Arizona) had a solid performance against the Crawdads in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.

Pitcher Carter Delaney (Undecided) was in the zone on the mound, striking out six batters in five shutout innings against the Crawdads. Lucas Wepf (Louisiana Monroe) relieved Delaney, and was lights out on the bump. He went three innings, and struck out three batters, and didn't give up a single hit or run.

The Potters face off against the Crawdads, along with three games against the Solano Mudcats. They close out the week with a game against the red hot 17-2 Healdsburg Prune Packers.

-- Gianna Cefalu

Solano Mudcats: 5-9 overall, 0-4 Week 4

The Mudcats played just twice before Sunday, dropping both games. A 20-7 loss to Walnut Creek was followed up by an 11-7 loss to Healdsburg. They then dropped both games of their double-header with Healdsburg, finishing the week winless.

First baseman/outfielder Jordan Petrushka (Holy Cross) had the highlight performance, going 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in the loss to Healdsburg on July 10. Petrushka also had two runs scored, driving the offense despite the loss.

Outfielder Kenny DeCelle (Santa Monica) continued his consistent hitting. Across the first two games this week, the CCL Showcase selection went 3-for-8 with two RBI.

Brady Joyner (Willamette University) pitched well in the opening game of the double-header, going 5 innings and giving up just two runs on three hits while striking out five. He kept them in the game, but Healdsburg jumped on their next pitcher to extend their lead to 5-1, which would be the final score.

The Mudcats will be playing three games against the Lincoln Potters next week, with the CCL Showcase game sandwiched between.

-- Joe Pohoryles

Walnut Creek Crawdads: 5-12 overall, 2-4 Week 4

The Crawdads put up a hitting clinic against the Solano Mudcats with a 20-7 victory on July 6. The ‘Dads followed it up with a 6-4 win over the San Francisco Seagulls the next day, but lost the next four games in a row, twice to the Healdsburg Prune Packers and twice to the Lincoln Potters.

Infielder Trevor Werner (Texas A&M) led the offensive output, going 7-for-18 (.389) on the week, which was the best average on the team. Werner’s best single-game performance was in the 13-5 loss to the Packers on July 8, where he went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and one run scored. Werner totaled six RBI on the week and led the team with two doubles and one triple.

Infielder Chase Dabbs (St. Mary’s) had an impressive week at the plate as well, going 5-for-16 (.313) with four RBI and three runs scored. Two 0-for-4 days brought his average down, taking away from a 3-for-5 night in the win over Solano and a 2-for-3 performance in Friday’s loss to Healdsburg.

Joshua Sanders (Texas Tech) was big out of the bullpen for the Crawdads, throwing 3.2 innings over two games and giving up just one hit while striking out 5.

Next week, the Crawdads will face the Lincoln Potters after the CCL Showcase Game, followed by three non-league games.

-- Joe Pohoryles

CCL South Division

Arroyo Seco Saints: 10-6 overall, 5-1 Week 4

The Saints are the hottest team in the South division, winning all five league games this week before losing a tight one to the San Diego Waves on Sunday to end the week. Three of those wins were nail biters, as they beat the Riptide in 13 innings on Tuesday and defeated the Foresters twice in close games.

Drew Cowley (Cal Poly Pomona) was the reason for the win over the Foresters on Thursday, smacking a walk-off three-run homer with two strikes and two outs in the ninth. He went 8-for-25 (.320) on the week with that one home run and eight RBI. It was him and Connor Bradshaw (Pepperdine) who carried the load offensively, with Bradshaw going 16-for-30 (.533) with a home run and 11 RBI.

Dominick DiRado (Binghampton) came up clutch in the 13-inning win over the Riptide, pitching all four extra innings and closing out the game with runners on base. Tommy Hannan (Cal Berkeley) tossed six shutout innings in relief for the week, maintaining his perfect 0.00 ERA.

The Saints will play the Waves again Tuesday and the Oaks on Thursday before traveling to San Luis Obispo to play two games against the Blues this weekend.

-- Lucas Banks

Conejo Oaks: 8-6 overall, 5-1 Week 4

The Conejo Oaks had a busy week, winning five of their six games played. Two victories over the Barons and two over the Blues helped to take attention away from a 9-0 loss to the Riptide.

Reagan Buford (Mississippi) played a solid last six games, but his most substantial one came in the Oaks’ 14-5 win over the Blues. The freshman scored three runs in three at bats, smacking a homer and five RBI. Burford’s overall numbers for the week total out to six hits in 13 at bats with nine RBI. Grant Smith (Incarnate Word) also had a power week of rounding out the bases. The infielder ended scoring six runs in 21 at bats with two doubles for a .429 week BA.

Aidan Garza (Saint Mary) had an great game in the Oaks unfortunate loss to the Riptide. The sophomore pitched 3.2 innings and struck out six of the 13 batters faced, allowing just two hits and no runs.

The Oaks will take some time off and resume play on Thursday against the Saints, followed by two games against the Riptide and one versus the Ventura County Pirates this weekend.

-- Andi Basista

San Luis Obispo Blues: 9-6 overall, 3-3 Week 4

The Blues took two out of three against the Foresters this week, splitting two early in the week and winning Sunday to take the series. They also dropped two games to the Oaks, but were able to seal the deal on a 7-6 victory over the OC Riptide.

Outfielder Vincent Martinez (Stanford) hit .450 for the Blues this week, going 9-for-20 with a double, triple, home run and four RBI.

Evan Larson (Concordia University) picked up a win this week after pitching six shutout innings against the Foresters, lowering his conference ERA down to a 1.28. The pitcher has appeared in four games this year, three of those being wins for the team (two earned wins for Larson).

This week they will face off with the Saints, Riptide and Foresters. The Saints have a forceful closing game which will challenge the Blues relief pitchers. The Riptide has been coming out of the gate early, which will also be a challenge for Blues.

-- Emily Morton

Santa Barbara Foresters: 8-7 overall, 2-4 Week 4

The Foresters had a tough week with two close losses to the Saints, and two to the Blues. The nine-inning nail biters were shook off on Saturday as they came alive beating the OC Riptide 15-9 in their Saturday showdown.

Dylan Campbell (Texas) led the Foresters in hitting this week, going 10-for-24 with two homers and seven RBI. Both homers game against the Saints on Friday night, and he contributed two RBI in the 15-9 win over the Riptide.

Chase Webster (Texas Tech) picked up the win against OC Riptide this week for his pitching performance. Webster has pitched in four games, and still holds onto a 0.00 ERA, establishing himself as one of the better relief pitchers for the Foresters.

Up next the Foresters will have players in the CCL Showcase game. The team will then face off with the Blues, Barons, and Pirates. The Foresters took home a win over the Blues this past week and are looking to do the same again.

-- Emily Morton

Orange County Riptide: 6-9 overall, 2-4 Week 4

The Riptide opened up the week with a tough, grueling 13 inning loss to the Arroyo Seco Saints. They scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game up at 11, but the Saints' bats pulled away. The heart breaker didn't seem to faze them, as they bounced right back in dominant fashion, beating the Conejo Oaks 9-0.

It would be one of their two wins of the week, as they dropped a close 7-6 game against the San Luis Obispo Blues. They scored a combined 21 runs in their last two games, but it wasn't enough to beat the Academy Barons or Foresters.

Despite the rough week, Austin Kryszczuk (UNLV) shined offensively, going 7-for-13, with three doubles and six RBI. UNLV teammate Edarian Williams also had a great week at the plate, going 11-23 with 5 doubles and 11 RBIs including a 5-hit performance against the Saints.

Anthony Robie (Texas State) continues to dominate on the mound for the Riptide, as he had 10 strikeouts in 7 shutout innings against the Conejo Oaks. Nikelle Galatas (Jackson State) also had an impressive outing on the bump, going five shutout innings and striking out four against a competitive Blues team.

The Riptide return to action on Tuesday as they take on the MLB Academy Barons, with two more games against the Conejo Oaks and San Luis Obispo Blues.

-- Gianna Cefalu

Academy Barons: 4-11 overall, 1-5 Week 4

Playing their first full slate of games so far this season, the Barons had a tough week, losing to the Saints and Oaks twice. Their one win on the week was impressive though, as they knocked off the Riptide 14-12, logging 18 hits.

Alec Gonzalez (Tennessee) broke out this week, hitting 13-for-27 (.481) with a homer and nine RBI, including a 4-for-4 performance against the Oaks on Thursday. He also hit a huge three-run homer against the Riptide in their win against them. Kamau Neighbors (Long Beach CC) put together a solid week, hitting .353 and scoring three runs with two RBI.

Noel Soto (Cal Poly Pomona) had a great outing against the Oaks on Tuesday, throwing three shutout innings and striking out three.

The Barons will play the Riptide in their first game of the week on Thursday before facing the Santa Barbara Foresters in back-to-back games this weekend.

-- Lucas Banks

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