The Santa Clara Bruins varsity baseball team is off to a white-hot start to the 2022 season. Santa Clara wrapped up the early non-league portion of the season with a 7-2 record.
On Saturday they grinded on both sides of the diamond, eventually holding on to an 8-6 victory over Branham. It was their final game before opening the league season with a two-game series against Los Gatos on March 16 and 18.
Saturday’s win certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Bruins bore down when they had to, and starting pitcher Jayce Dobie didn’t allow the swarm of base runners to rattle him. The senior escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the first inning with a strikeout and a flyout.
In the second inning, Dobie yielded back-to-back singles to Branham to start the inning but made a nice play off the mound to field a bunt and throw out the lead runner at third base for out number one. He then got help from center field teammate Orlando Lewis. What looked like a third hit in the inning was a line drive that one-hopped into Lewis’ glove. The junior outfielder quickly rifled the ball to second base for a force out. A grounder to third baseman Jordan Montez would end the inning with no runs scored.
“Nothing gets to Jayce; nothing gets to Jayce,” repeated Bruins Head Coach Brad Comstock. “Jayce is a baseball player. You can’t say anything better than that. He is a true all-around baseball player. He is the leader of this team. He’s the captain; he’s the leader.”
Along with his starting pitching duties, Dobie was hitting in the three-hole spot on Saturday, typically filled by a team’s best hitter. While Dobie would launch an RBI double to left field in the Bruins’ half of the second, it was the team’s nine hitter, Sebastian McMahon, who delivered the game’s biggest hit.
With the Bruins up 5-3 in the fourth inning, McMahon drove a deep single into right-center field for a two-out, two-RBI knock to increase the lead to 7-3. The final score being 8-6, McMahon’s second RBI wound up as the difference making run to beat Branham.
“We definitely have a lot of depth. The bottom of the order is hitting really well,” chimed Dobie on the offensive support he has behind him. “Last game our nine hitter, Adam Perez, hit two home runs. We are pretty much a threat up and down the lineup.”
“We didn’t have two of our guys today and we were still doing great in the outfield,” added Lewis on the depth of the team. “This whole team is just unbelievable.”
Along with Dobie, Lewis, and McMahon, several other players had big contributions on Saturday. Sean Rescate threw out a runner at home plate from right field and picked up the save on the mound in the seventh. Jackson Moody delivered a clutch sacrifice fly. Eric Honer had a two-hit game, including a double to lead off the third inning rally that was capped off by Kailan Chao’s two-run single.