WEED, Calif. – Shasta College's baseball team won the final three games of the season, wrapping up the year with a Golden Valley Conference road sweep over College of the Redwoods.
The Knights played four games, losing the first in a nonconference game to Cosumnes River 8-4 before beating College of the Siskiyous 6-3 and taking down Redwoods 12-6 and 8-7 with a walk-off in 11 innings on Jaden Gorge's RBI double.
Cosumnes River 8, Shasta 4
Shasta led 4-3 after seven innings but relief pitcher Corey Ober surrendered five runs – four earned – and the Knights couldn't rally. Starter Jay Mendez gave up two runs on four hits with seven walks and two strikeouts in six innings. Gorge was 1 for 4 with three RBIs, AJ Davies was 2 for 3 with a run and Hayden Boyes, Derek Ray, Hunter Pinkston each had a hit and scored a run.
Shasta 6, Siskiyous 3
The Knights won the season series against the Eagles, taking three of the five meetings. A four-run seventh highlighted by RBI singles from Giacomo Crosetti and Ray lifted Shasta to victory. Ethan Williams was 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI, Pinkston was 2 for 4 with a double and a run, Crosetti was 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run, Gorge was 1 for 5 with a double and two runs and Chase Rossman had an RBI single. Max Nebel allowed one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks across eight innings to earn the win. Alex Alvarez picked up the save, only allowing one walk and no hits in the final inning of relief.
Shasta 12, Redwoods 6
Nebel's RBI double in the third and Gorge's two-run double in the fourth highlighted the nine runs the Knights put up through the third and fourth innings to pull away. Nebel was 3 for 5, Crosetti was 2 for 6 with three RBIs and a run, Gorge was 1 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs, Hayden Boyes was 2 for 2 with two RBIs and three runs and Pinkston was 2 for 4 with a double and two runs. Payton Jeffries earned the victory after giving up four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
Shasta 8, Redwoods 7
The Corsairs tied it up at seven in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings before Gorge ended it with a double to left center, scoring Boyes for the season-ending victory. Stephen Nelson was 3 for 5 with a double, triple, two RBIs and a run, Gorge was 3 for 6 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run, Mario Hernandez was 2 for 5 with an RBI, Boyes was 1 for 4 with two runs and Williams was 1 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs. Shasta went through six pitchers in the contest with Tysson Unciano getting the win after throwing one hitless inning with one strikeout in the 11th.
Stat Leaders
Shasta ends the year 13-26 overall and fourth in GVC play with an 8-17 conference record. Head coach Brad Rupert earned his 300th GVC victory this season and wraps up his 26th year with a 307-319 record in conference and 427-546 overall record.
Nelson's 43 hits tied for the team-lead with Gorge, who led the Knights in hits (43), doubles (10), RBIs (30) and posted a .299 batting average. Other team leaders included Crosetti in runs (27), Ray in home runs (5), Davies in walks (15), Boyes in stolen bases (10) and Williams with a .383 batting average (min. 80 at bats).
For pitching, Jeffries had the most wins with 3, going 3-5 overall in 13 appearances along with team-highs in innings pitched (57.1). Other team-leaders included Mendez in strikeouts (35), Unciano in saves (2) and earned run average of (3.24, min. 25 innings pitched). Mendez, Nebel, Kaden Nicholes and Unciano each had a pair of wins.
As a team, Shasta ranked sixth in sacrifice hits with 38.
FINAL STANDINGS
Team GVC, Overall
Feather River 23-2, 32-8
Butte 18-7, 26-14
Lassen 17-8, 27-13
Shasta 8-17, 13-26
Redwoods 5-20, 11-17
Siskiyous 3-22, 9-28