First-year Turlock High baseball coach Sean Gilbert thinks his team can be scary good once they figure out how to put seven good innings together.
“When you talk about potential, it’s usually a bad thing,” said Gilbert after last week’s win over Central Catholic. “Our biggest message to the kids has been, “Compete every inning.”
In the meantime, the Bulldogs are good enough to be the No. 1 large-school team in the Front Row Preps region for a second consecutive week.
Hughson High also remained No. 1 in the small-school rankings, improving to 9-0 this season and hold opponents to one run or less in five of their nine victories.
Defending Sac-Joaquin Section champion Beyer High, which beat Enochs 9-6 on Saturday at Dick Windemuth Field in Modesto, replaces the Eagles in the rankings.
Editor’s Note: Comprised of teams from the Central California Athletic Conference, Central California Conference, Valley Oak League and Western Athletic Conference. Records as of Sunday, March 17. Last week's ranking and records in parenthesis.
1. (1) Turlock (4-3) — Got a solid pitching performance from Casey Carr in a win against Central Catholic. Carr left the game after the fourth (pitch count) with a no-hitter in tact.
2. (2) Buhach Colony (4-1) — The Thunder blanked No. 4 Sierra and probably would’ve moved into the top spot if it were later in the year. However, that loss 9-3 loss to Turlock is tough to overlook at this early stage of the season.
3. (3) Los Banos (6-1) — The Tigers beat Livingston and Pitman and next faces No. 5 Beyer on Wednesday in Los Banos.
4. (4) Sierra (6-1–1) — Can’t really punish the Timberwolves for losing to the No.1 team in the region, so by virtue of their wins over Pitman and McNair, they’ll stay put.
5. (nr) Beyer (4-5) — The Patriots move into the rankings thanks to their win over then-No. 5 Enochs, on Saturday. Don’t let the record fool you. The reigning Sac-Joaquin Section Division III champions have played a tough schedule early.
Editor’s Note: Comprised of teams from the Central California Athletic Alliance, Mother Lode League, Southern League and Trans-Valley League. Records as of Sunday, March 17. Last week's ranking and records in parenthesis.
1. (1) Hughson (9-0) — The Huskies posted a 3-0 mark last week to remain undefeated fort the season.
2. (2) Argonaut (6-0) — The Mustangs kept pace with two victories and are just waiting for the No. 1 Huskies to make a misstep so they can jump into that top spot.
3. (3) Mariposa (6-0) — And then there’s the Grizzlies, who beat Turlock Christian to also remain unbeaten and are hoping Hughson and Argonaut take a tumble so they can move up.
4. (4) Big Valley Christian (8-2) — How do you know you’re off to a fast start? Tyler Meyer hit a blistering .615 (8 for 13) last week and saw his overall batting average drop to .658 for the season. He took a tough-luck loss in a 2-1 setback to Woodland Christian, though the two runs he allowed were unearned.
5. (5) Modesto Christian (5-1) — The Crusaders got wins against Denair and Linden but fell to a tough Central Catholic team that had No. 1 Turlock on the ropes in their matchup last week.
