GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - For the first time since the 2018 spring season, the Gridley Bulldogs baseball program hoisted a CIF Northern Section plaque as they beat West Valley 8-0 in the NSCIF Division III Championship on Saturday, May 20.

When the Herald visited the baseball team as they practiced in Farmers Hall in the middle of the March due to the infestation of rainy weather, a goal was to win the section title, but now that goal changed to not ending their season.

Gridley head coach and alumnus Javier Solis told the Herald in the gym that it would be a dream to win the section title for the Bulldogs.

Gridley (15-5) senior captain Michael Ryan, who played four years on the varsity level expressed to the Herald that he would do anything to win a section title with the Gridley G on his hat.

Both Solis and Ryan along with all of the other Bulldogs can check that off their list as they weren’t going to give up the home field advantage they had in the title game.

Gridley freshman pitcher Tanner Abbott had the ball for the Bulldogs on the mound and let West Valley know their season was ending there.

Abbott pitched seven innings in the shutout and gave up three hits and struck out 11 Eagles. One of the biggest leaps for the freshman pitcher was getting ahead of the count early.

Abbott had 16 first-pitch-strikes against West Valley of the 23 batters he faced and allowed him to get comfortable to throw any pitch throughout the at-bat with confidence.

“It gave me the edge of being ahead and making them think of what I was throwing as they were behind in the count guessing,” Abbott said.

In the bottom of the first, Gridley had the first four runners reach base as junior second baseman Emmet Smallwood was hit by a pitch to bring in Ryan to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Solis told the Herald postgame he told his team early in the season they were going to use small ball throughout the season and the championship game was no different.

Gridley junior shortstop Andrew Santillan was signaled to lay down a bunt with the bases loaded and one out.

Santillan laid down the perfect bunt as it rolled down the first baseline along the inner part of where the infield grass and dirt meet all the way up and stayed fair as West Valley hoped it would push foul.

The Bulldogs benefited with one run initially off bunt but because the Eagles waited so long for the ball to go foul, Solis was able to send a second runner home to score to give Gridley an early 3-0 lead.

The Bulldogs went through their entire lineup in the first inning and continued the train in the second inning as they tacked on four more runs in the second inning and ran through the line up for a second time in a row.

Gridley had an 8-0 lead after two, as much as that sound comfortable, the coaching staff and multiple Bulldogs were not going to take the foot off the gas as it was heard to “keep the foot on the pedal” religiously throughout the game.

Gridley junior catcher Bryar McWilliams told the Herald they have been consistently an early scoring team throughout the year.

McWilliams added that they worked on trying to hit the ball to the opposite side of the field from their time off between May 17-19.

“We made sure we worked on hitting the ball to the right side of the field instead of pulling the ball,” McWilliams said.

With a great show off support from the Gridley community, the big game drew former and future Bulldogs in the baseball program including former legendary head coach Dan Crabtree, who Solis played for in his time at Gridley.

Solis was all smiles through the post game as he reflected on his time being eliminated in the first round of playoffs as a one seed his senior season and said it was a great feeling to bring a title back to Gridley.

“The time and work these guys put in to accomplish their goal is amazing,” Solis said.

He added that as a team they made baseball fun for one another throughout the entire season.

The Bulldogs move onto the CIF NorCal Regionals and they find out who and where they play on Monday, May 29 when the brackets are announced.