Falcons Head into CVC Play Locked In
Mar 13, 2024 10:40AM ● By Steven BrylaRiver Valley senior Emilio (Milo) Castaneda (20) goes through his wind up to throw a pitch in the Falcons’ 15-2 victory over Marysville on Thursday, March 7. Photo by Steven Bryla
River Valley 15, Marysville 2
YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The River Valley Falcons baseball team’s huge offensive fourth inning against the Marysville Indians gave them their best start in the program since the 2017 season as they defeated Marysville 15-2 on Thursday, March 7.
River Valley Head Coach Rob McMains told the Dispatch that although this is a lot of the same players on some of the last couple rosters, it’s a new mentality of confidence and they have goals they are focused on accomplishing set in place.
River Valley senior pitcher Emilio (Milo) Castaneda (20) smacks a triple in the gap for the Falcons’ 15-2 victory over Marysville on Thursday, March 7. Photo by Steven Bryla
The Falcons got on the scoreboard early as senior pitcher Emilio (Milo) Castaneda blasted a two runs-batted-in (RBI) triple in the first inning. Castaneda added another two-RBI triple in the fourth inning for a team-leading third hit and five RBI’s for the day.
Castaneda and senior first baseman/outfielder Maddox McMains expressed to the Dispatch that they feel like they can make a statement and compete in the Capital Valley Conference this season.
“We’ve established our work ethic and we’re working hard,” Maddox told the Dispatch. “We’re staying locked in.”
Castaneda trusted his defense behind him and had five strong innings on the mound against Marysville as he gave up three hits with one run and struck out nine Indians hitters.
In the loss to River Valley, Marysville fell to 1-4 for the second consecutive season, and in his first year at the helm for the Indians Dominic Barriga told the Dispatch they were going to be focusing on fundamental work moving forward before they opened Pioneer Valley League play this past Tuesday as they hosted Sutter.
Marysville senior pitcher/outfielder Bradford Pietz (11) throws a pitch in the Indians’ 15-2 loss to River Valley on Thursday, March 7. Photo by Steven Bryla
Barriga told the Dispatch that the Indians have been in all of their games on the season and they are going to continue putting in the work.
River Valley opened the Capital Valley Conference league play against Bella Vista this week as their only home game was on Thursday, March 14, against the Broncos.
Yuba City
The Honkers went 1-2 last week as they were beaten by Folsom and McClatchy, but picked up a 6-5 win over West Park (Roseville) on Thursday, March 7.
Folsom was able to do most of the damage against the Honkers in the fifth inning of the Folsom 6-2 win on Tuesday, March 5, as two walks by Yuba City junior pitcher Brandon Pelechowicz contributed to the five-run inning before he was relieved by senior pitcher Grant Fletcher.
Marysville junior shortstop Benjamin Barajas (3) throws a ball towards first base in the Indians’ 15-2 defeat to River Valley on Thursday, March 7. Photo by Steven Bryla
Fletcher got the start against McClatchy on Friday, March 8, and pitched six strong innings where he gave up just two runs and six hits in the game. The Honkers weren’t able to get anything going offensively against McClatchy as senior outfielder Kaedin Bullock and junior Zeke Garcia were the only two hits for Yuba City in the evening.
The Honkers opened CVC play against Inderkum this week as they look for another playoff appearance after they won five of their six CVC series last season.
Sutter
Sutter Union Head Coach Stewart Peterson picked up his 200th career win as a varsity head coach last weekend as the Huskies competed in the Colusa Tournament. The Huskies remained perfect on the season as they went 4-0 last week with victories over Linden, East Nicolaus, Winters and Durham.
A noticeable attribute for the Huskies was the great performances from their starting pitching so far, as they have controlled their opposing offense and haven’t let any team get over two runs in any game.
Peterson told the Dispatch every pitcher on the roster has a specific role and they all have done a great job so far in the season.
Sutter senior outfielder/pitcher Rylan Giovannoni still leads the Huskies in hits (8) and RBI’s (10) and hit the first Sutter home run of the season in the second inning of their 9-2 victory over Winters on Friday, March 8.
Sutter senior infielder Logan Yacavace and junior outfielder Carson Bishop are on Giovannoni’s heels with six hits a piece.
The Huskies started PVL play this week against Marysville as this will be the final season in the PVL for Sutter as they are going to the Golden Empire League next season due to realignment.