Belts were on bottoms during St. Mary’s baseball Sac-Joaquin Section first-round matchup against local foe Franklin.
The Rams reeled in run after run before the game was called 12-2 at the end of the fifth inning. This statement victory over the Yellowjackets punched their ticket to the Division 1 quarterfinals.
“It feels good,” said Jason Lindholm, St. Mary’s baseball head coach. “We were able to come in, hit the ball and our pitchers did what they have been doing all year — they just kept it going. We wanna keep it going on Thursday as well.”
Here are the key takeaways from St. Mary’s dominating win over Franklin to get them one step closer to a blue banner.
Home runs galore
Anyone at the game could smell a route after the first inning. The Yellowjackets were sat down in order and gave way to the Rams' fiery offense. Kicking things off was senior Micael Quedens who smacked the ball out of the park for a two-run home run.
The 3-0 lead quickly became 5-0 despite Franklin switching its pitchers midway through the bottom of the first. Junior Tanner Grove showed off his set of wheels getting an inside-the-park one-run homer.
“We've played some good teams this year, but we've played nobody that hit like that,” said Joe Piombo, Franklin baseball’s head coach. “It didn’t matter who we put out there or what we threw, they swung the bat. So our hats off to them, they’re a good team.”
After a five-run first inning, St. Mary’s reeled in another three runs and another one-run home run, this time from senior Tyson Reis. Along with their home run-hitting ability, the Rams could string hits together to punch in runs. Cal commit Brady Errecart led the team, finishing with a team-high three runs, two hits, two RBIs, and two stolen bases.
By the top of the fifth inning, there wasn’t much Franklin could do to stop the Rams' offense that, according to Lindholm, hasn’t always been their strong point.
“I feel like our team has bonded a lot together — we’re getting to know each other and we’re playing better, you can tell on the field,” Errecart said. “It’s totally different than it was in the beginning it’s almost like a family now. It feels like we have fewer guys on the team because we're so close, but we don’t.”
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Franklin keeps on fighting
While St. Mary’s had it there for the whole game, Franklin didn’t quit fighting. Coming into the matchup as the No. 16 seed taking on the No. 1 seed, the Yellowjackets knew it would take a miracle to pull off the upset.
That task proved to be too tall for them but another task took over midway through the game — cracking the goose egg. Franklin went scoreless for the first four innings but that changed once junior Devan McMinn came up to bat. The 5-foot-10 slugger smacked the ball deep into the outfield giving senior Joaquin Andrade just enough time to beat the throw at home.
The Yellowjackets got another run after that just before the game's end, snatching the Rams' shot at a shutout.
“We're proud of our guys,” said Piombo, “There really is only one team that doesn't finish with a loss, so when you get to playoffs that becomes reality. It’s going to happen but I’m proud of my guys regardless and we’re gonna keep building up this program.”
With this loss, Franklin closes out the 2023-24 season with an overall record of 15-12 while St. Mary’s playoff journey continues. The Rams will be back in the comforts of home hosting the No. 8 seed Inderkum on May 9.
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Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: SJS baseball DI playoffs: St. Mary's bests Franklin in first round
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