Prep baseball rankings, notes: Franklin’s Stevens stars; heartwarming moment in Vacaville

There’s a star baseball player in the making at Franklin High School. His name is Nolan Stevens. And he’s only a 15-year-old sophomore.

He’s not the first member of his family to play for the Wildcats. His older brothers Carson and Grant played at the school and graduated in 2019. They’re now both playing in college.

Nolan Stevens was 2-for-4 at the plate with two extra base hits and four RBIs in last Thursday’s 16-3 win over Whitney in Placer County. On the mound, he struck out six in four innings.

“He’s a dynamic player for sure, I’m lucky he’s on my team,” Franklin coach Bryan Kilby said. “He pitches and he can hit. He’s also a great teammate and works hard. He’s the only sophomore on this team but he doesn’t act like it because he carries himself like a senior. He’s a special player and the future is extremely bright for him.”

Franklin scored 12 runs in the second inning to blow the game open. Every single batter in Franklin’s starting lineup had a hit. Joe Lopez and Michael Freitas had three RBIs. Andres Galan and Lucas Gibbons drove in two runs and Josh Timmons and Justin Willot both had one.

Franklin has looked impressive in wins over Placer, Oak Ridge and Whitney. The lone loss this week came to top-ranked Granite Bay 7-3.

Franklin starts Delta League play next week against No. 8 Davis. In total, six teams from the Delta league are ranked in The Bee’s top-10.

“The Delta League is outstanding top to bottom,” Kilby said. “You have to play good opponents at the beginning of the season to prepare you for league. I believe in challenging our guys to be the best. If you want to be the best, you have to play the best.

Stevens added, “We want to win league and get another banner up on the back of our field — especially for our senior class because they don’t get to have a full season. Their goal was (to win) the Delta League. That’s everyone’s goal on the team. Everyone is confident and ready to win.”

Heartwarming moment in Vacaville

Some moments in life are bigger than sports.

Will C. Wood High School seniors Kobe Rollings and Daniel Navarro assisted Fairfield pitcher Juan Martinez in the fourth inning last week. Martinez was getting called for balks because he was not getting set on the mound before he pitched. Because he didn’t speak English, Martinez did not understand what the coaches or umpires were trying to say to him.

Rollings wasn’t in the game, but came from the opposing dugout to explain to Martinez what was happening so he could stay in the game. Rollings is multilingual. He started speaking Spanish in kindergarten. He wants to minor in Spanish in college.

“I was out of the game and my teammate Daniel (Navarro) was on deck,” Rollings said. “I told (Daniel) let’s go talk to this kid (on the mound) because none of his teammates or coaches knew how to speak Spanish. The kid didn’t know what to do.

“Daniel and I went up to him and asked him if he spoke Spanish, which he said he did. We told him we needed to talk to him about some things before he pitched the ball. We told him in Spanish that you have to come set because you throw the ball and you have to stop moving your shoulders before you come set. After that he said he appreciated it and he continued to pitch. ... I feel like if we never (went to talk to him), he would’ve been scared or stressed out and possibly could have walked away from baseball.”

Everyone in the stands clapped and cheered. No one was more proud than Kobe’s dad, Dyron. He said it was, “one of the best moment(s) I’ve ever had in baseball.”

Quick Hits

▪ Pioneer beat Woodland Christian 1-0 Thursday behind big plays from the Timothy brothers. Senior Hunter Timothy struck out 12 and outdueled Woodland Christian ace Drew Stapleton. Hunter’s younger brother Carson singled in Mason Mitchell for the only run of the game in the first inning.

▪ With Roseville trailing 4-3 in the seventh inning against Nevada Union, Tigers infielder K.J. Turpin tied the game on a fielder’s choice. Three batters later, senior Luke Aubin drove in Parker Hellekson to give the Tigers a 5-4 win. For Roseville, Josh Alger was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and Aiden Chang was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

▪ The upset of the week was Oakmont beating district rival and top-ranked Granite Bay 3-2. The game was tied at 2-2 in the sixth inning before Oakmont’s Ethan Gonthier had an RBI single that would go on to be the game-winner. Oakmont sophomore Kurt Martin threw a complete game and struck out three.

▪ The Vanden Vikings enter The Bee’s rankings for the first time this season after back-to-back wins over Vacaville. Vanden beat Vacaville 9-8 Tuesday and 14-2 Thursday. In Thursday’s win, Cody Buckley, Jake Tranchina, Devin Riley and Dekker Smith all drove in multiple runs.

▪ Laguna Creek also enters the rankings for the first time this season. Noah Lucchesi threw a no-hitter and stuck out seven in the 16-0 win over Sheldon. The Cardinals also beat previous ranked Bella Vista 20-0.

▪ Vista del Lago junior Kaden Knapp hit a grand slam Friday in a 15-6 win over Sheldon. Knapp finished with rive RBIs. They also enter the rankings for the first time this season.

▪ Jesuit opened its season at home Wednesday with a 6-5 win against baseball academy Alpha Charter, coached by Anthony David Manuel, son of former MLB manager Jerry Manuel. Jesuit’s Drake Bicknell struck out seven and only allowed two hits in five innings. Andrew Sloan and Jack Williamson both drove in a pair of runs. Jesuit lost later in the week week to national powerhouse De La Salle of Concord.

▪ Myles Meyer, Martin Haswell and Jaden Thompson combined to pitch a shutout for Placer in the 5-0 win under the lights at James Field in Auburn on Friday night. Meyer also drove in two runs. Placer also beat Roseville Saturday night 8-7 behind a 2-run walk-off double by freshman John Handy.

▪ Oak Ridge picked up big wins against Sierra Foothill League foes Rocklin (6-3) and Folsom (10-2). Andrew Uharriet was 2-for-3 with three RBIs against Folsom.

▪ Behind Zac Malone’s two hits and three RBIs, Woodcreek beat Del Oro 11-4 at home Wednesday afternoon. Jake Harvey also batted in two runs.

▪ Elk Grove beat Vacaville 11-0 Saturday behind A.J. Hutcheson’s eight strikeouts and three RBIs each by Ryan Zamora and Noah Canter.

▪ Cosumnes Oaks improved 6-0 after wins over Bella Vista, Oakmont, Bradshaw Christian and El Camino. Steven Brooks, Elvin Delic and John Sheehan are senior leaders for the Wolfpack.

▪ Ponderosa ace and Stanford-bound pitcher Ty Uber struck out nine in a 6-5 win over Vista del Lago.

▪ Like what you read, the news, notes, rankings, player rankings, game stories, photos, analysis and more? Consider a Sports Pass subscription for pennies a day to help us cover even more.

THE BEE’S TOP 20

1. Granite Bay (4-1)

2. Franklin (5-2)

3. Woodcreek (3-2)

4. Oak Ridge (2-4)

5. Rocklin (4-3)

6. Elk Grove (3-1)

7. Cosumnes Oaks (6-0)

8. Davis (3-0)

9. Pleasant Grove (4-1)

10. Jesuit (1-1)

11. Folsom (4-2)

12. Placer (4-2)

13. Ponderosa (3-2)

14. Oakmont (4-4)

15. McClatchy (0-0)

16. Vanden (4-0)

17. Del Campo (0-2)

18. Vista del Lago (3-1)

19. Laguna Creek (2-0)

T-20. Del Oro (2-3)

T-20. Roseville (4-2)

On the bubble: Alpha Charter (3-1), Bella Vista (3-3), Christian Brothers (0-0), Colfax (4-1), Lincoln (0-4), Pioneer (1-0), Vacaville (1-6), Winters (0-0), Whitney (1-6), Wood (4-0)

This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 6:45 AM.