The varsity baseball Eagles turned in a strong debut in a pair of road and home openers on March 26 and 27, recording a clean sweep over Credo.
Cloverdale benefited from outstanding pitching and clutch hitting in both outings, factors that should bode well for the season ahead.
“Opening weekend went well,” CHS coach Ben West said. “David Alvarez pitched great and it was exactly what we could hope for in game one – a complete game outing with no walks.”
Alvarez was brilliant, tossing seven innings of four-hit ball, yielding just one earned run while fanning eight in an 8-1 victory.
The junior hurler had plenty of run support in a nine-hit offensive attack.
“Our offense came prepared as well,” West noted. “Great production at the bottom of our lineup helped us execute and offensively, it was a great team effort.”
Top hitters for the Eagles were sophomore Caden Axell (3 for 4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs), Andy Herrera (1 for 3, run), Collin Patterson (1 for 2, 2B, 2 runs), Alvarez (1 for 1), Josh Lemley (1 for 2), Emilio Diaz (1 for 4, 3 RBIs) and Gabe Wlodaczyk (1 for 3, run, 2 RBIs).
The Eagles had their hitting shoes securely fastened in game two against Credo on Saturday in Rohnert Park, pounding out 12 hits in an offensive barrage.
Cloverdale jumped ahead with three runs in the first inning and another four in the second, busting it wide open with eight runs in the sixth frame en route to a 17-2 romp.
The Eagles used multiple arms in this one, as Wlodaczyk (3 IP, 0 hits, 0 ERs, 6 Ks, 5 BBs) picked up the win. Also seeing mound action were Josh Lemley (2 IP, 1 hit, 2 ERs, 6 Ks, 5 BBs) and Dylan Jones (1 IP, 0 hits, 0 ERs, K).
Swinging hot bats for Cloverdale were Josh Lemley (3 for 5, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs), Patterson (2 for 5, 2B, 3 RBIs), Logan Axell (2 for 5, 2B, 2 runs, 3 RBIs),Diaz (2 for 2, 2 runs, RBI), Casey Lemley (1 for 2, run), Alvarez (1 for 2, 3 runs), Herrera (1 for 3, 2 runs, RBI), Jonathon Meza (RBI), Caden Axell (RBI) and Jones (RBI).
“Both teams walked too many people, but what separated us was the ability to capitalize on those walks,” West said. “We had a lot of base hits with runners in scoring position and saw a lot of maturity in our approach at the plate. The heart of our lineup was able to produce strongly this game,” he added.
The Eagles fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in a March 30 visit to Ukiah, falling 7-1. Alvarez (4 IP, 8 hits, 4 ERs, 2 Ks, 2 BBs) and Josh Lemley (2 IP, 3 hits, K) shared mound duties while leading hitters included Patterson (2 for 3, run), Caden Axell (1 for 3, RBI), Diaz (1 for 3) and Alvarez (1 for 4).
Cloverdale (2-1) will visit Maria Carrillo in Santa Rosa on Friday, April 2 (4 p.m.) and return home to host Kelseyville in the league opener on Tuesday, April 6 in a 4 p.m. start.
