Prep baseball: McClatchy wins first game back in play after school district strike
For nearly two weeks, the McClatchy High School baseball team and all sports in the Sacramento City School District were on pause because of staffing strikes.
Wednesday marked a return to action and it felt like the opening day all over again for the third-ranked Lions. McClatchy beat Metro League rival Kennedy 11-0 in the team’s first game since March 18. During the strike, McClatchy missed six games, which will all have to be rescheduled. After the team returns from spring break toward the end of the month, they will have to play six games in a week to make up for lost time.
“Of course there is excitement and it was kind of the feeling of finally,” McClatchy coach Mike de Necochea said. “It feels like you are starting all over. Even our infield outfield routine before the game, they forgot what we do. We had two practices and we were trying to get our reps in. There (were definitely) jitters. It really felt like a first game.”
During the strike, teams within the district weren’t allowed to play or practice. Coaches weren’t allowed to see their kids. The strike for McClatchy came in the middle of one of its best starts to the season in school history at 10-0.
“I love these kids,” the coach said. “The kids missed out on enough (during COVID) and not being able to practice was the roughest part. It was very emotional. This is a very tight-knit group.”
McClatchy has arguably the top area player in senior Malcolm Moore, who has a chance to be drafted very high in this summer’s MLB draft. He went 1-for-2 with a triple and two intentional walks.
“Huge performance by Malcolm today,” de Necochea said. “After (he had two long hits) they didn’t pitch to him after that. There were so many cameras. They got to see what they wanted to see. ... When we go to San Diego, it will be crazy.”
The coach added later about Moore’s power “You don’t see that in high school. It’s impressive.”
The McClatchy coach is also on a verge of a milestone. The win against Kennedy marked his 299th win at the school. He started in 2005 and has been the coach for the past 18 seasons. He will have his chance to get win No. 300 on Friday against Kennedy.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 8:17 AM.