Sequoia
SANTA CLARA – Sequoia junior second baseman Garrett Johnson had the kind of varsity debut most can only dream of in the Ravens’ 4-1 season-opening victory over Mountain View in the opening round of the Ted J. Tamone Memorial tourney at MacDonald High.
The leadoff hitter walked three times, and reached base on an error. He also scored two runs and stole two bases to set the table for Sequoia’s big hitters. Defensively, he made a diving stop and throw to first to end the third inning.
Three things we liked:
· Catcher Logan Mathias was the difference in this one. Sequoia had a catcher. Mountain View didn’t. Mathias put the clamps on Mountain View’s ability to steal bases. He nailed Austin Xu at third base to end a sixth-inning threat. Meanwhile, the Ravens ran wild, stealing five bases in the first two innings to score all four runs.
· Pitcher Morgan Winfield didn’t walk a batter in five innings of work. He filled the strike zone and let his defense do the heavy lifting. Offensively, the junior had two hits, including a two-run single in the second inning that staked Sequoia to a 4-0 lead.
· Shortstop Vince Olinger Giani was tagged with two errors but showed off his range and arm by going deep in the hole to field a grounder and getting the out at first base. He also charged a grounder and made an off-balance throw get another runner at first.
Key play: Three pitches after Xu led off the game with a long double to left-center field, Winfield and Olinger Giani worked a daylight play to pick the runner off second base. It snuffed out any momentum the Spartans might have generated, and Winfield closed out the inning with two straight strikeouts.
“Those picks we work on are tedious because we work on them a lot at practice,” said Sequoia coach Mike Doyle. “But that’s why we do it."
He said it: “We wanted to come out and set a tone and I think we did that. It was a good way for us to start the season.” – Junior second baseman Garrett Johnson.
Up Next: The Ravens (1-0) will face host Santa Clara on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round of the season-opening tournament.
| R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequoia (1-0) | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Mountain View (0-1) | 1 | 6 | 3 |
W: Winfield (1-0). L: Dooley. 2 RBI: Winfield (S). 2B- Xu (MV).
Santa Clara 7, Half Moon Bay 1
Santa Clara's Drew Diffenderfer picked up the victory by pitching five innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts against the visiting Cougars (0-1).
Riley Jackson had a hit and an RBI for Half Moon Bay, which fell to the consolation bracket of the Tamone tournament and will face Mountain View on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
| R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half Moon Bay (0-1) | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Santa Clara (1-0) | 7 | 5 | 0 |
W: Diffenderfer | L: Hipkins.
San Mateo 14, Mission 0
Jesus Olivas drove in four runs with three hits for the Bearcats, who opened the season with a convincing victory over the San Francisco school.
Julian Bless drove in three runs for San Mateo, who will travel to Burlingame on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
| R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission (0-1) | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| San Mateo (1-0) | 14 | 13 | 0 |
3 hits- Olivas (SM). 2 hits- Copus (SM), Louie (SM), Brandt (SM). 4 RBI- Olivas (SM). 3 RBI- Bless (SM).
Branham 5, Hillsdale 2
The Knights dropped their season opener and will look to rebound on Thursday when the travel to Westmont.
| R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branham (1-0) | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| Hillsdale (0-1) | 2 | 5 | 0 |
W: Lewis L: Gilbert S: Jennings. 2B- Vietvu (B), Schultz (H), Guzman (H)
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