Big inning helps defending champ Granite Bay eliminate El Capitan from baseball playoffs
Aaron Ruiz had to give the speech every high school baseball coach hopes to avoid.
It’s the speech that comes after the final game of a season that ends in a loss.
Moments after No. 2 seed El Capitan High fell 9-2 to No. 7 Granite Bay on Thursday in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs, the Gauchos coach gathered his players down the left-field line for the emotional talk.
“I told them I’m proud of everything they’ve done and everything they’ve accomplished,” said Ruiz, whose team finished with an 18-4-1 overall record. “I still say if you put all their names on paper, there are other teams more talented. But (El Capitan) accomplished what they did because all these guys came together. We really were a family.”
Granite Bay came into the game with a deceiving 11-17 record. The defending section champions play in a loaded Sierra Foothill League and were battle-tested with a tough schedule that included games against out-of-section powers De La Salle and Clovis West.
“They played a Division I schedule,” Ruiz said. “They put themselves through the ringer this season. You look at their order — one through nine — there’s not a break in their lineup. We had to bring our A game today and we just didn’t play well enough to be in the game all seven innings.”
The Grizzlies jumped out early with a three-run first inning against El Capitan senior left-hander Andrew Bakken. Jayce Bystrowski delivered a two-run single to highlight the first-inning rally. Bystrowski collected three hits and scored two runs in the game.
The Gauchos stayed within striking distance with the defending champions early, cutting the Grizzlies’ lead to 3-2 in the fourth inning after Jarrett Blake doubled in Braden Giardina with two outs.
However, Granite Bay broke the game open with a six-run fifth inning. The big blow came on a bases-loaded triple by Cody Ferrante that extended the lead to 8-2.
“We had some momentum and we need to shut them down and get our bats back up there at that time,” Ruiz said. “Hats off to (Granite Bay). They had a really good approach and they were able to recapture the momentum.”
The Grizzlies pounded out 13 hits against two El Capitan pitchers.
Granite Bay right-hander Jack Ghufran went the distance on the mound, giving up just two runs on five hits. He struck out six batters.
The Grizzlies advance to next week’s best-of-three semifinal series against No. 3 seed Woodcreek, which defeated No. 6 Jesuit 12-11.
Meanwhile, El Capitan said goodbye to its seniors.
“We’re sad,” senior Mitchell Hunter said. “We were never ready for this to end.
“It’s tough because we’re such close friends. We’ve worked so hard. We’ve had so many rainy days, early mornings and comeback in so many games. It’s hard to see all of us going our separate ways.”
Other playoff scores
Division VI
May 10 first round
No. 4 Le Grand 1, No. 5 Bret Harte 0
No. 2 Argonaut 5, No. 7 Mariposa County 2
May 15 semifinal
No. 4 Le Grand at No. 1 Leroy Greene Academy-Sacramento, 4 p.m.
This story was originally published May 11, 2023 at 9:36 PM.
