El Capitan baseball team quietly clinches WAC championship

Like many of the fans, El Capitan High baseball coach Aaron Ruiz was expecting more of a celebration after the Gauchos defeated Ceres 5-0 to clinch the Western Athletic Conference championship on Monday afternoon.

There was no dogpile. No congratulatory hugs. No yelling. There were barely any smiles as the El Capitan players shook hands with Ceres players and jogged down the left-field line for their postgame chat.

As it turns out, the Gauchos have bigger goals.

“Although it didn’t seem like it, this means a lot to these guys,” Ruiz said. “They’ve worked hard all year long, but our focus has been on the bigger picture, and that’s going on a deep run in the postseason. I don’t think they know what a dogpile is. Hopefully that is something we see in the future.

“All year we’ve been harping on having a quiet confidence, and I think they took that to heart today.”

The Gauchos (18-6, 10-1 WAC) would have been upset if they didn’t win a conference title this year. They expected it.

Their sights are set on a blue banner.

“From my perspective, this didn’t feel like a championship game,” said El Capitan shortstop Braiden Ward. “This felt like any other game. Our main goal is to win league, but our big-picture goal is sections. Sections is the real championship for us. That’s when we’ll go (crazy).”

The Gauchos took control of the game early with ace Sai Davuluri on the mound. The junior right-hander came into the game with an 8-1 record and a 1.45 ERA.

He showed why, as he threw a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts in game that took an hour and 20 minutes to finish.

“Sai’s a pitcher. He has command of three different pitches,” Ruiz said. “We know he’s going to be around the zone, so we’re going to be ready every single pitch.”

Rafael Mercado gave the Gauchos an early 2-0 lead with a two-run triple to right field in the second inning. El Capitan then tagged on solo runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Ward doubled, stole second and came around to score on an errant throw to give the Gauchos a 3-0 lead in the third inning.

Davuluri helped himself with a leadoff triple to center in the fifth and scored on a ground out by Tyler Skelton to extend the lead to 5-0.

Ruiz feels the Gauchos’ attention to detail has played a big part in their success this year: moving runners over, getting the big hit with two outs and making plays on defense.

“I’ve never been around a team that understood what they needed to do to get it done more than this team,” Ruiz said. “We lose our second baseman today and another guy steps up. That’s how it’s been all year. They just get on the field and battle for each other.”

It helps to have a close-knit team.

“We’re a family,” Ward said. “Almost every day at lunch there are a handful of guys in coach’s room hanging out. We just mess around, or we like playing chess.”

Word is their chess victory celebrations are epic.

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "El Capitan baseball team quietly clinches WAC championship."