RCHS Eagles Win River City Classic Baseball Tournament
Photo by Janine Saake
Front Row (L-R): Travis Dong, Jacob Tang, Reece Gallarzan, Caleb Busch, Gavin Fanucchi, Tyler Skjong, Gil Butler
Back Row (L-R): Coach Mark Saake, Ben Nguyen, Josh Nixon, Carter Eberhard, Ethan Neal, Craig Yanagihara, Sam Quiroz, Brayden Bibby, Tommy Charlton, Coach Cary Dahl
“David defeated four Goliaths” as the Redwood Christian High School Eagles baseball team prevailed in the River City Classic Baseball Tournament. The tournament, held April 3-5, was hosted by Sacramento’s River City High School (2200 students), and included teams from Sheldon High School of Elk Grove (2500 students), Hiram Johnson High School of Sacramento (1500 students), Liberty Ranch High School of Galt (1200 students), in addition to Redwood Christian High School of San Lorenzo (215 students).
Redwood Christian won their first game on Monday against Sheldon by a score of 4-2 behind strong pitching performance by winning pitcher Tommy Charlton (6 IP, 1 ER). Despite an outstanding outing by senior Sam Quiroz (5 IP, 1 ER), the Eagles dropped the second game of the day to Liberty Ranch, 4-3. On Tuesday, the Redwood offense came to life and defeated Hiram Johnson 12-2 behind strong pitching by senior Ethan Neal (2 2/3 IP, 0 ER) and freshman Gil Butler (2 IP, 2 ER). The win set up a rematch with Liberty Ranch for the Championship, and behind the strong arms of starter senior Craig Yanagihara (4 2/3 IP, 10 K) and junior reliever Carter Eberhard (2 1/3 IP, 1 ER), the Eagles prevailed 9-7 in a game that saw each team battle to answer their opposition’s scoring.
Notable Eagle batting performances for the tournament were junior Caleb Busch (7 for 11 at the plate), junior Carter Everard (7 for 15), and senior Josh Nixon (6 for 14).
“I am really proud of how our guys battled this week, especially with a few fighting illness and several of our players having been gone the previous 10 days on Redwood’s Missions Trip to the Navajo Nations,” stated Head Coach Mark Saake. “And with all the rain this spring, we came into the tournament without many games behind us. So we were just grateful that the weather cleared up this week, and we were able to get some games in, and winning the tournament was an extra blessing.”
The Eagles return home to start league play next week with two home games against the Athenian Owls on Tuesday, April 11 and Thursday April 13 at their home field at the San Leandro Ball Park.
