Umpire escort, fans separated, no-hitter as Buhach Colony-Del Campo playoff series resumes
After a long couple days that included a viral video of a fan fighting an umpire in a parking lot, protests, a forfeit, appeals, forfeits being overturned and postponed games, the Buhach Colony and Del Campo high school baseball teams finally returned to the field to resume their Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinal playoff series on Friday.
Buhach Colony senior pitcher Cooper Lanz took center stage, firing a no-hitter as the No. 6 seeded Thunder pulled even in the best-of-three series with an 8-0 win over the No. 2 Cougars at Buhach Colony.
The two teams played the deciding game three Saturday at Del Campo. The winner will face No. 1 Vanden in the section championship game next week.
“It’s been tough, it’s been mentally draining,” Lanz said. “We were about to leave yesterday then our game was canceled. Then we got the loss on top of that. To come back with that fire just shows what team we are and what kind of ball club we have.”
This playoff series has been a week-long saga that started with Del Campo winning 3-2 in game one on Monday on a controversial call at the plate with the Cougars scoring the winning run in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Buhach Colony coach Joe Medeiros stormed out of the Thunder dugout and argued the call.
The bad blood spilled out into the parking lot as video captured a Buhach Colony fan getting into a physical altercation with one of the umpires.
In a separate issue, Buhach Colony played the game under protest because Del Campo held batting practice on the field prior to the game, which is against Sac-Joaquin Section rules.
On Wednesday, Sac-Joaquin Section Commissioner Mike Garrison ruled Del Campo had to forfeit the victory because of the pregame batting practice. Garrison also ruled the series would continue at a neutral site on Thursday without any fans being allowed to attend.
On Thursday, an appeal board overruled the commissioner. The forfeit was overturned, giving the victory back to Del Campo. The appeal board also overturned Garrison’s ruling about the neutral site with no fans. Instead the series would include at home sites with fans.
“When we got the news yesterday, it was kind of like a weight off my shoulders,” Medeiros said. “It was a big relief. I’m glad Del Campo’s fans got to watch, they deserve it. I’m glad our fans got to watch as well. Outstanding team over there. Great class by their players, their coach. I’ve got nothing bad to say, they’ve handled themselves tremendously and I know it’s been hard on them too.”
Large turnout, no issues this time
Extra security measures were taken by the Merced Union High School District for Friday’s game.
Del Campo fans were instructed to park on one side of the school and go through a specific entrance and sit on the third base side of the field. Buhach Colony fans were instructed to park on the other side of the school and enter through another specific entrance and sit on the first base side.
Both sides had a large turnout of fans. A temporary fence was put up to keep both rooting sections apart.
There was no problems with the spectators throughout the game.
The three-man umpiring crew was escorted to the field by Buhach Colony principal Jennifer Euker and three police officers, including Atwater Police Chief Michael Salvador.
“There was nothing between our fans ever,” said Del Campo coach Kevin Dawidczik, who was born in Merced. “I’m glad it wasn’t as separated as I thought it was going to be, but no it was fantastic. It was great. It’s a great field. They’re a great ball club. I was happy that we got to play with our fans in front of us. That was one of my main things the whole time in that appeal is that both teams get their fans. There’s no reason for the fans not to be there.”
Strong start for Buhach Colony
As for the game, Buhach Colony (24-8) jumped out to an early lead as Logan Baptista drove in Lanz with a ground out in the first inning to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead.
Baptista drove in Lanz again in the third inning with a run-scoring single to extend the lead to 2-0.
Dawidczik had to pull his starting pitcher Jordan Jacobson with an injury after the third inning. The flood gates opened for the Thunder in the fifth inning as they sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs to open up an 8-0 lead.
Spencer Lanz delivered a key blow with a two-run double and Jaxson Percoats later dropped in a two-run single to right field. Buhach Colony also took advantage of three Del Campo errors during the rally.
“Our first starter, we took him out because of an injury,” Dawidczik said. “It’s tough when that happens. It kind of takes the wind out of the sails a little bit, but we’ve got to make plays. The first two runs were scored off freebies. I don’t think we gave up. The competed harder in the box than we did with runners in scoring position.”
The eight runs were plenty for Cooper Lanz, who struck out six and induced 12 ground ball outs.
“He’s been amazing down the stretch,” Medeiros said. “We were confident if we put the ball in his hand he’s going to give us what he gave. Our philosophy today was scratch a few runs early and Cooper was going to give us a shot.”
Lanz, who is headed to University of the Pacific next year on a baseball scholarship, said he was aware he had a no-hitter going.
“It’s in the back of my head but my focus is get the team win so that’s what I was trying to do,” he said. “Throw strikes and let my defense work is what I was focusing on.”
The playoff series will finally come to an end on Saturday with a trip to the section championship on the line.
“Like I told the guys, we’re not done,” Medeiros said. “We want to go down there and play team baseball. Win or lose we just want to play good, clean baseball.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 9:03 PM.