‘Everyone was excited’: Granite Bay baseball opens with statement win over Placer

Granite Bay High School infielder Brett Ott stepped to the plate Tuesday afternoon against Placer in a season opener.

The left-handed junior, who hits leadoff, took a few pitches. Then he ripped a line drive to right field for a double. J.R. Freethy and Joe Plise followed with doubles.

The bats were going early for Granite Bay, which beat Placer 11-1 in five innings. It was the first game for either club in more than a year due to the pandemic.

“It was awesome (being back out here),” Ott said with a smile. “Just the atmosphere with all the guys and everything. Everyone was hyped up no matter who you were or where you were playing. Everyone was excited to be out here, and it’s just a great group of guys. Everyone out here works so hard every day. It just makes everyone better when you’re like that.”

Ott added, “Even as a junior, I’m still ready to go out, and (I) play like it’s my last baseball game ever because you never know what’s going to happen. It’s the best feeling ever being back out here.”

The excitement by Ott and his teammates is mirrored by their longtime coach Pat Esposito.

“It’s been a whole year and we are just so excited to be back out here,” Esposito said. “Our guys get so excited sometimes I have to tell our guys to relax because they just want to play. They love the game so much. We have been working so hard the last few weeks and our guys needed a game.

He added, “I think we have a good nucleus of guys. We don’t worry that there are no playoffs, we just want to come out here and play good baseball. We’re going to play 15 league games just like normal. We are trying to win a (league) championship.”

No. 8 Granite Bay led 4-0 at the end of the first and 9-0 after the second. Infielder J.P. Smith had an RBI double and triple. Freethy, Plise, Nolan French and Ryan Gallagher all had RBIs during the first two innings.

Granite Bay led 9-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning after Placer scored off an error in the top half of the inning. Granite Bay senior outfielder Alex Johnson hit a sharp line drive to right with the bases loaded that scored two runs and ended the game.

Baseball games in the Sac-Joaquin Section go seven innings, but if a team leads by 10 or more runs after five complete innings, the game ends in a mercy rule.

Granite Bay was also led by senior righthander Thomas Meyer. He threw three scoreless innings and struck out two. Bentley came in relief in the fourth inning and only allowed one run.

“Our pitching was good,” Esposito said. “Our starter (Meyer) threw 29 strikes on 38 pitches. Blake threw like 19 strikes on 28 pitches (in relief). We just want to pound the strike zone and make hitters put the ball in play.”

Placer sophomore Jake Graham got the start for the Hillmen and struck out three in two innings. Sophomore Cam Staton came in for relief in the third and struck out three.

The Hillmen were missing two key senior leaders in Cal Poly-bound pitcher Martin Haswell and Oregon-bound catcher Anson Aroz. Both were in quarantine.

The Grizzlies were set to play Jesuit, but the game was postponed because of COVID-19. Granite Bay’s next game is Monday in El Dorado Hills against top-ranked Oak Ridge. Placer will face No. 7 Franklin on Thursday.

This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 7:19 AM.