‘It’s a big win for us’: No. 10 Jesuit baseball team beats Vacaville in walk-off fashion

Jesuit High School outfielder Arjan Johal stepped into the batters box in the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday afternoon in Carmichael in a tie game against Vacaville.

With catcher Jake Moreau at second base, Johal put his bat down to apparently bunt and advance Moreau to third. As the pitch was thrown, Johal pulled back his bat and singled up the middle. That scored Moreau and gave The Bee’s No. 10 team a 2-1 win over the 2018 and 2019 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship Bulldogs.

Chaos ensued. Johal was rushed at second base by his teammates. They all celebrated. This is the sort of game that can turn around a season.

Joe Potulny, the longtime Jesuit baseball coach, could only smile about the reaction.

“Clearly, our guys were excited,” Potulny said with a laugh. “I think a part of it is our guys are just happy to be out here.”

He added, “I’m happy for the seniors that they get to play. I’m just glad they’re getting the chance to play. They’re competing. We have a long way to go. They could have tanked yesterday (after the loss to Granite Bay) but they didn’t. Given what everyone has been through the last 13 months (with the pandemic), maybe we take things for granted when we get them taken away. We now appreciate and value (those things) more.”

The standout for the Marauders was Devon Walczykowski. The Pepperdine-bound senior slugger hadn’t started a varsity game on the mound and only made one appearance his sophomore year in relief against Valley Christian of San Jose.

“I love getting up there and competing,” Walczykowski said. “I like competing for no matter what position (I play). I love to pitch. I started to work on it again (last summer). This was a big game for us. We lost to them twice in the playoffs two years ago. I know for some of us, we took it a little more personally. It was a big win for us and great momentum going into the next game.”

Although Walczykowski enjoys pitching, he is a hitter first. He hit a long home run against Granite Bay on Tuesday. The topic of hitting left leaves him to smile.

“I’m super excited for Pepperdine, and there’s no better place to be than Malibu,” he said. “The hitting coach (at Pepperdine) really cares about his guys. He has a lot of hitting technology that really excites me. I think it’s the best mix of academics and athletics.”

Walczykowski struck out six in six innings and only gave up two hits. Dylan Burke entered in the seventh and struck out three. Both weathered the storm and kept Vacaville hitters in check.

The Bulldogs’ only run came in the sixth on an overthrow to first base. That allowed J.J. Menesini to score from second. Brewster Mott and Tyler Sutton had hits.

Vacaville lefty Logan Piper struck out seven and settled down after allowing an RBI single to outfielder Carsen Keim in the first inning that scored Nick Little.

After the game, Potulny and Vacaville coach Stu Clary embraced with a hug. They have a mutual respect for each other and have formed a friendship. When Vacaville and Jesuit met in the football playoffs in 2017, Clary, Potulny and their assistant coaches met for lunch.

“He’s a great guy who’s a Vacaville graduate,” Potulny said of Clary. “He (teaches) special education, so it tells you a lot about his compassion for people. … Stu is as good as it gets. He’s the same guy. No ego. He just is always having a good time with his guys.”

The Bulldogs entered last season ranked No. 1 by The Bee with hopes of a section title three-peat. This year they are 2-7 after losses to Davis, Vanden and Elk Grove.

Vacaville will play Fairfield on the road Thursday. Jesuit will host St. Mary’s of Stockton on Friday.