Cloverdale returns solid core of talent to 2017 squad
The varsity baseball Eagles are off to a winning start to the 2017 season, logging one win in their first pair of preseason outings.
Cloverdale opened the spring schedule at home on March 4 with a 3-1 victory over Healdsburg, but suffered their first season loss in a 9-0 setback to visiting Sonoma Valley on Saturday.
Led by veteran coach Keith Warner, the Eagles are coming off a strong 2016 campaign that featured a third place league mark of 9-5, earning a spot in the North Coast Section playoffs before finishing the season at 12-10 overall.
Cloverdale graduated six seniors from that squad but returns a solid core of seasoned veterans that include senior catcher Pat Ojeda, senior first baseman/DH Mason Kostoff, senior first baseman Nick Menzell, junior shortstop/pitcher James Wirt, junior infielder/pitcher Kamrin Mitchell, sophomore pitcher/infielder Drew Edens, and sophomore utility-man Keller Sibert.
Although the roster has not yet been finalized, other team members include Jake Sullivan, Anthonie Rebatarro, Dylan Scaramella, Robertson, Turner, Corady, Perlenfien and Giovanotto.
Eagles gain split   Â
Cloverdale sent Nick Menzell (3 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 2 Ks) to the mound in the March 4 meeting with visiting Healdsburg, pitching well before giving way to Scaramella (2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ERs) in the fourth with the game knotted at 1-1. The Eagles pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth before the game was called due to rain for a 3-1 Cloverdale victory.
Top hitters included Ojeda (3 for 3, 3 2Bs, run, RBI), Giovanatto (1 for 1, RBI) and Wirt (1 for 3, run)
The Eagles played host to Sonoma Valley in a March 11 clash at City Field, as Mitchell climbed the hill opposite Dragons’ ace Carson Snyder. The visitors scored in each of the first three innings, including a five-run uprising in the decisive third to take a commanding lead. Snyder did the rest in an eventual two-hit, 10-strikeout performance en route to a 9-0 Sonoma victory.
Ojeda (1-2) and Wirt (1 for 4) accounted for Cloverdale’s two hits.
The Eagles (1-1) will resume pre-league action this week with a Wednesday, March 15 (after press time) visit to Recreation Park in Healdsburg. The first pitch is 7 p.m.
