Gridley
GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley High School baseball team put the Lassen Grizzlies away early in the second round of the CIF Northern Section playoffs as a crooked number by the Bulldogs in the first inning led to a 11-1 victory on Friday, May 12.

Gridley drew the number one seed in the NSCIF playoffs, so they get to host the rest of the section games on their home field.

Bulldogs head coach Javier Solis is grateful and happy that his team gets the advantage of playing the remaining section games in Gridley.

“With us being on this field since January and all different types of data whether it’s been cloudy, sunny or hot, that’s a benefit for us,” Solis told the Herald.

In the first inning the home field advantage showed a small glimpse as Gridley sophomore third baseman Gus Stogsdill hit a pop fly to right field and the sun blocked the view of the ball and passed right over the head of Lassen sophomore outfielder Tony Carvalho.

Carvalho was wearing sunglasses, but the sun shifted at the right time for Stogsdill as it resulted in a three-run-swing and extended the Bulldogs lead to 6-0.

Gridley (13-5) added three more runs in the first to take a controlling 9-0 lead at the end of the first. With a comfortable lead, Bulldogs freshman pitcher Tanner Abbott had to just throw strikes and trust his defense to get outs.

Abbott expressed to the Herald that his main job was to throw strikes. Abbott threw 72% strikes of his 81 pitches during the game.

“I knew I had to come in and throw each ball as best as I could,” Abbott said.

The Bulldogs nearly doubled their season average of hits as they collected 11 on the day against Lassen.

Gridley senior infielder and captain Michael Ryan told the Herald there is a lot of work to still do. Ryan and Solis added they got a lot of hitting practice this week with differationa that included live pitching and cage work.

Ryan told the Herald they made a great adjustment to the first pitcher for Lassen.

“We had to be patient in the box and when it came across our zone, we let the bat fly,” Ryan said.

The Bulldogs collected 11 total hits including eight runs-batted-in (RBI). Ryan went two-for-three with two doubles and two RBIs.

Abbott pitched five strong innings for the win and recorded seven strikeouts. Gridley had two opportunities to clinch a spot in the D-IV section final for the second consecutive year whether it was a win over West Valley. If the Bulldogs lost against West Valley, they would have another opportunity to get into the final as they would have played the winner against Lassen and Orland, who played early Tuesday.

The section final is set to be played this Saturday at Gridley High School with a time to be determined.

Live Oak
COTTONWOOD, CA (MPG) - The Live Oak High School baseball team lost in the first round of the NSCIF Division IV playoffs as they lost 10-0 against the West Valley Eagles on Tuesday, May 9.

The loss resulted in the 16th consecutive defeat for Live Oak after they started 3-0 on the season with a win over Biggs and a double-header sweep against Lindhurst.

The Lions managed to get a single from sophomore first baseman T.J. Ehrke. Live Oak goes into the off-season with hopes of improvement next season. They should bring back most of their roster as they are graduating two seniors this season.