Windsor falls to 10-12; on bubble for NCS playoffs
The varsity baseball Jaguars came agonizingly close to a pair of wins last week, only to come away empty in a thoroughly frustrating stretch on the North Bay League diamond.
Windsor (10-12, 3-9) suffered tough setbacks to Rancho Cotate (3-2, 11 innings) and Casa Grande (12-4) to fall into the NBL cellar with just two games left on the docket.
At the start of play this week Maria Carrillo was in first place in the league standings at 10-2, followed by Casa Grande (8-4), Ukiah (7-5), Montgomery (6-6), Rancho Cotate (6-6), Cardinal Newman (4-8), Santa Rosa (4-8) and Windsor (3-9).
At press time the Jaguars were preparing to close out the league campaign with scheduled home and away dates against Montgomery (May 11) and at Ukiah (Friday, May 13). Windsor entered the final week ranked number 15 among NCS Division-2 teams and may need a win to gain an at-large berth in the playoffs.
Jags drop a pair
Windsor opened a disappointing stretch on May 4 at Rancho Cotate, riding a pair of strong pitching efforts from Sam Penning (5 IP, 6 hits, 2 ERs, 5 Ks) and Hunter Disidoro (5 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 Ks) in a tense, low-scoring battle.
Trailing 2-0, the Jaguars rallied for a pair of sixth-inning runs to send it into extra innings knotted at 2-2. The Cougars ended the madness after the next three scoreless frames, pushing across the winning run in the bottom of the 11th to pull out a 3-2 victory.
Jordan Allen (.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER) took the loss, while top hitters included Penning (3 for 4, 2B, 2 RBIs), Mat Silva (1 for 5, run), Ethan Wright (1 for 5, 2B, run), Travis Broadhead (1 for 4), Tanner Kane (1 for 5) and Joey Pignataro (1 for 3).
Starting pitcher Jevin Barry (6 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 K) spun a gem in Friday’s clash with visiting Casa Grande, throttling the Gaucho bats in six innings of mastery. Windsor held a 4-1 lead before disaster struck in the seventh, as Casa capitalized on untimely errors in plating 11 runs en route to a 12-4 win.
Tanner Kane (.1 IP, 3 hits, 4 ERs) took the loss, while top hitters were Chris Berndt (2 for 3), Penning (1 for 4), Pignataro (1 for 2, run), Kane (1 for 3, run) and Disidoro (1 for 3, run).
