‘We just have fun.’ Golden Valley baseball team continues to grow with win over Merced
With 10 sophomores and two freshmen on the roster, the Golden Valley High School baseball team has had to learn on the fly this season.
Despite daily lineups made up of mostly varsity rookies, the Cougars have held their own this season.
Golden Valley showed why on Wednesday afternoon, cashing in on a gutsy pitching performance by sophomore Rohan Thiara and some timely hitting in a 4-2 win over Merced at Doug Fister Field.
The young Cougars improved to 7-9 overall and 3-4 in the Central California Conference.
“We just have fun,” said Rohan, who was making his first start of the season. “Everyone gets along, we’ve known each other for a long time. We’re going through the ups and downs together.”
Cougars coach Greg Euker who has been around baseball his whole life says he’s never seen a varsity baseball team this young.
“Never, it’s so young,” Euker said. “Age-wise, most of our guys would be on a frosh-soph team. Early on I was worried about them adjusting to the speed of the game. Would they be able to catch up to how fast things move at the varsity level. Some of these guys had only played at the JV or freshmen level and some only junior high baseball.”
Euker says it’s been strange and exciting to be around so many young players.
There are going to be times they make mistakes because of their lack of experience. On Wednesday, Euker had to remind his first baseman to hold a runner on first base with runners on first and third. Sometimes players need to be reminded where they are supposed to be on the field in certain situations.
However, the payoff could be huge in the next few years when Golden Valley has a roster full of one and two-year varsity players.
“I knew we had good, young talent, but you wonder if they’ll be able to compete,” Euker said. “They’re growing together, they’re working hard and they like being around each other.”
The Cougars jumped on top of Merced with three first-inning runs on Wednesday. The Bears are running out a young team of their own with six sophomores and a freshman on their roster.
Freshmen infielder Bralyen Centeno led off the game with a triple and scored on a ground out. It was the first of three hits for Centeno in the game.
Sophomore Koen Heupel, who is hitting over .500 on the season, drew a one-out walk and scored on an RBI-single by sophomroe Ryan Saechao. Saechao stole second and came around to score on a run-scoring single by Thiara for a 3-0 lead.
The Bears (6-12, 3-6 CCC) battled back with two runs in the third inning with a sacrifice fly by Austin Lejarde and a run-scoring single by pitcher EJ Knott that cut the Cougars’ lead to 3-2.
Merced threatened all game but stranded 12 runners on base. Thiara pitched out of jams in all six of his innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
“I just had confidence in my defense,” Thiara said. “Even though that sixth inning started with an error, I knew my defense would make the play.”
The two teams will play again on Thursday night in the annual Nannini Game at Merced High at 7.
