The first two weeks of the local high school baseball season are in the books, and the latest marked the beginning of league play for several programs. Nevertheless, the wet and windy weather put a halt to much of the scheduled action in the past week. As teams use the weekend to reset and hope for drier conditions moving forward, here are some of the top storylines surrounding teams in the Turlock Journal coverage area.

‘Jackets can’t lose

The surprise of the year thus far has been Hilmar High. Through nine games, they have yet to be beaten and have outscored opponents by a combined 91-16. Of those games, four have ended by mercy rule. Their closest contest came against Ceres on Deb. 26, in which the Yellowjackets won 3-2.

The nine wins to start the year is just three away from their total win mark from a season ago, which was head coach Frank Hilliard’s first year at the helm. With a year of experience, the expectation is that his team can keep up the momentum and contend for the Trans-Valley League title. They got off to a good start on Thursday, defeating Ripon Christian 8-4 to start their conference campaign. The second game of the series was slated for Friday, but was rained out.

The trio of seniors Tanner Westmoreland, Kaleb Amaya and John Labno, as well as junior Jacob Sward, have been bashing to start the year. Sward has 15 hits in 30 at-bats, including three doubles, two triples and a home run. His 11 RBI are second on the team. The man driving in the most runs is Labno with 17 as he hits .424 in 33 at-bats. He also has three doubles and a big fly. Westmoreland and Amaya, meanwhile, each have 13 hits. With his speed at the top of the lineup, Westmoreland has swiped five bags and has scored a team-high 19 times. On the mound, senior Brad Chipponeri has accounted for four wins, 26 punchuts and a 1.05 ERA over 20 innings.

Huskies say, ‘Not so fast!’

If you thought the TVL was a powerhouse conference just for football, you were mistaken.

While the ‘Jackets are flying high, Hughson High’s program has been reminding folks why they are the defending champions.

The Huskies have begun the year with an 8-2 record, and they’re also firing on all cylinders. Of their nine regular in the lineup, six are batting over .300 to start the year. There may not be anybody in the county off to a hotter start than senior middle infielder Beau Blake.

After sitting out half the year in 2024 following his offseason transfer from Turlock Christian, Blake is making an immediate impact, batting .500 (16-for-32) with four doubles and four home runs. His 16 RBI lead the team.

Behind the dish has been senior captain JC Lupercio, an impact bat who also relishes the responsibility of calling games and framing for Huskies’ deep pitching rotation. Retraining is ace Max Mankins, who has 21 strikeouts and 2.94 ERA in 16 2/3 innings over his three starts. Also striking out hitters in bunches has been junior Isaac Lupercio, who has 20 to go along with a 3.18 ERA over his 11 innings. Fellow juniors Benji Ocegueda and Bryce McDaniel have also tabbed 12+ frames, giving skipper Charly Garza a plethora of options as league play heats up.

The Huskies are 1-0 in the young TVL season after beating Ripon 9-3 on Tuesday. The second game Friday was postponed due to, you guessed it, rain.

Bulldogs also look to defend

Speaking of defending league champions, Turlock High is hoping their middling preseason isn’t a preview of what’s to come once Central California Athletic League play gets underway next week.

Weather permitting, the Bulldogs, led by head coach Mike Souza, will take a trip to Modesto on Monday to begin their defense of the conference crown against Gregori. The ‘Dogs are 2-3-1 thus far, dropping games to the likes of East Union (7-3), Lodi (8-1) and Oakdale (5-0). Their two wins each came on Feb. 28 at the Central Catholic tournament, 12-0 over Merced and 8-0 over Spanish Springs. Their last game, a 7-3 loss, came on the final day of the tournament against Manteca’s East Union. They were set to face Lincoln on Tuesday, El Capitan on Thursday and Manteca on Friday, but of course, the rain had other plans.

With only six games to their name this year, and a week without action, it’s difficult to get a grip on the Turlock offense. An undoubted bright spot has been sophomore Mason Hackler, who is 6-for 18 with a team-high 7 RBI. To contend, the Bulldogs will also rely on four-year varsity starter Josh Ramirez, who hopes to put a cherry on top of his stellar high school career. Although he has just four hits in 19 at-bats at the top of the lineup, he has also drawn a pair of walks and has swiped three bases to put himself in position to score a team-high five runs.

On the mound, seniors Andrew Sevilla and Jaron Rocha and sophomore Cameron Henard have tossed the most innings, each racking up over 10 strikeouts and keeping the team ERA hovering around the 3 mark.

Pride hope to ride momentum

Pitman High was the rare exception in getting a game on Wednesday, and it provided them a much-needed spark.

Playing two hours earlier than scheduled, the Pride rallied from a 7-6 deficit to walk off East Union, 8-7. It was a rally started by an error and capitalized on by a pair of middle-of-the-order bats. The first was senior Nathan Cervantes, who blasted a game-tying double to deep center field. He scored to end the game on the very next pitch on a single to left by junior Ben Vilhauer. The win improved their record 4-5, and will be the lasting image of the team until they travel to Modesto on Monday to play Enochs. 

Vilhauer and junior Nolan Walker are each hitting over .350, have each driven in over five runs and have scored more than five times, contributing to most of the team's 35 runs thus far this season. But the Pride have simultaneously allowed 50 runs, with the only pitcher in their rotation with a sub-3 ERA being senior Ryder Scott.

Scott and Cervantes are two of only five seniors on the 13-player roster. Head coach Andy Walker will need his youngsters to take steps forward if they want a shot at the CCAL crown.

Coyotes off to hot start in league

After a preseason in which they went 1-2-1, Denair High has strung together two straight wins to start their campaign in the new-look Southern Athletic League. The first was a 4-1 win against Mariposa on March 4 and the other being a 10-0 mercy-rule victory over Stone Ridge Christian.

They will look to continue their winning ways next week with a two-game set against Modesto Christian.

The difference between this year and past seasons? Experience, as more than half the roster has actually played baseball in their lives, and they have returned a handful of players. 

The two Stanislaus County All-Stars are batterymates Kaden Prine and Logan Hart, who are each hitting over .350 at the plate. Prine, one of the most dominant pitchers in the section, has picked up right where he left off, posting a 0.40 ERA and 40 punchouts over 17 1/3 innings.

One unfamiliar face that has turned heads is Thomas Lundquist, a freshman who is hitting .357 (5-for-14) with 8 RBI. He has also tossed 2 2/3 innings.

Upperclassman leadership and an enthusiastic, athletic roster is a luxury for any head coach, but especially for Denair’s Mike Stucker as he continues to see the rebuild through.

Eagles look to reclaim crown

Less than three years removed from making consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII championship games, which included hoisting the blue banner in 2022, Turlock Christian head coach Bill York hopes to return the program to that prominence. And there is good reason to believe they can accomplish that this year.

More than half his players had a taste of the postseason last year, when they went 14-7 overall and finished as a runner-up in the Central California Athletic Alliance with a 7-3 record against conference foes. After a first-round win, they were swept by Woodland Christian in two games in the semifinal round.

This year, their only losses have come at the hands of Denair and Hilmar. They have one more preseason game against Stockton Christian on Monday at Pedretti Park before their league campaign gets underway against Ben Holt Christian Academy on Wednesday and Friday.

One of the returners making a massive impact is Jakobe Garcia, who is 9-for-20 with two doubles and a pair of steals in the young season. Driving in runs in bunches are sophomores Brady Worsham and Winston York, with nine apiece. Another returner, catcher Michael Miller, is 8-for-20 with 8 RBI while anchoring the pitching staff.

The staff is headlined by York, fellow sophomore Max Salas and junior Blake Starn. Salas, who tossed five strong innings in their final playoff game a year ago, is 1-0 and has a 2.33 ERA and 11 strikeouts in his three appearances. Starn is 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA and 17 strikeouts in his four games. But nobody has been better than York, who has yet to have given up a run on just four hits in 11 2/3 frames while punching out 18.