Prep baseball: Young Bradshaw Christian team rolls into NorCal semifinals
Most every time Dylan Wood unleashes a pitch, his hat pops off.
When it doesn’t, people used to the image of a player without a cap look suddenly look at each other with a sense of bewilderment, so used to watching the cap trickle down his jersey. Wood is Bradshaw Christian High School’s poised ace, with a shock of curly locks so robust that his hat jars loose with the lurch of his body.
Even a hearty laugh knocks the top off. Wood’s coaches tried to solve the issue during winter workouts, to no avail. Finally, they agreed to let the kid do his thing, hat or no hat, and his gift of pitching has offered the region a glimpse of things to come. This is his first varsity campaign.
On Tuesday afternoon in south Sacramento, Wood lost his lid but never his composure in keeping Madera South in check. Wood tossed a complete-game five-hitter, striking out five to register a 3-0 victory over the Stallions in a Northern California Division IV quarterfinal.
Also of note: Wood is just a freshman. Same with batterymate catcher Landon Carter. This roster is dotted with underclassmen and has played beyond its years, having allowed two runs in five playoff victories, including storming through the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs. The No. 2-seeded Pride are 24-4 will host No. 6 Albany (19-9-1) of the East Bay on Thursday in a semifinal. Wood will be there, playing outfield, where he has lost his cap a time or two chasing down a ball. He’s not about to trim the top any time soon.
“Losing my hat can be a little distracting sometimes, but I appreciate my hair and try to make it work,” said the affable Wood. “I felt great out there today. I threw strikes and have a great defense. My best pitch is my cutter and I have the changeup, and you have to have a fastball. Its really exciting for us right now.”
Imagine the glee for Wood’s father, who celebrated his 56th birthday Tuesday. Sean Woods was a pitcher at Sacramento City College, helping the Panthers to championships. Father and son talk baseball a ton.
“Every day,” said the son.
Bradshaw Christian has eight seniors who graduated Friday. Most of their classmates took off this week for Disneyland for a senior trip, but this group remained committed to keep the championship vibe going.
“The trip was there, but our guys really wanted to play, and they’re fully in as a team,” Bradshaw Christian coach Kurt Takahashi said. “We put in a lot of practice. No one works harder. We challenge them to get things started at practice, then practice hard, and we’ll even pull the weeds. Games feel like Christmas. They have so much fun.”
The park looks pristine, a gem of a diamond for a small school with an enrollment of 267 students. Madera South has nearly 3,300 students. The reason the clubs squared off is because of the CIF’s competitive-equity model of relying more on strength of schedule more than size of student body. The model doesn’t always work, but it did just fine here, especially with Wood in command.
Coming in, the biggest name in the game was Madera South senior shortstop Triston Gray, who is headed to Fresno State on scholarship. The team’s No. 2 hitter in the lineup went hitless and struck out with two runners on in the fifth inning, and that was enough for Wood to cruise home. Micah Nicholson drove in a run in the Bradshaw Christian first inning and then delivered a two-out RBI single in the fifth to make it 2-0. A passed ball in the same inning allowed Jonathan Wiser to score, and Wood wouldn’t allow Madera South to score.
“He’s a great player and it was a great challenge,” Wood said of Gray.
Of Wood, coach Takahashi said, “He was really good. In December, we saw his hat pop off and thought, ‘We’ve got to fix this!’ But it’s worked out fine. He’s such a good kid. They’re all good kids.”
And young kids.
Nicholson is a sophomore shortstop who produced more dazzling plays. Ethan Rickert is a freshman third baseman manning the Pride infield with Nicholson. He also started on the varsity football team at quarterback for a playoff team under his coaching father, Drew Rickert, an assistant baseball coach at the school. Coach Rickert was the head coach for four section championship baseball teams, from 2011-2015. He was coaxed out of baseball retirement by Takahashi, who also has the joy of coaching his son, designated hitter Jackson Takahashi, a stout junior who also played football.
“It’s fun to coach your kids, and they’re good kids, and they’re good players and leaders, which makes it easy to coach them,” Takahashi said. “Drew Rickert, I’ve never met a coach who can get guys to buy in like he does. I hadn’t been involved in high school baseball since I played (in the early 1990s in Porterville). I didn’t know how to run a practice when I took over (in 2015). I got Drew out. It helped.”
Takahashi was drafted in the 19th round of the 1995 draft by the Giants as a pitcher out of Fresno City College. He played eight seasons, his final four in an independent league because he didn’t know when to quit.
“When baseball told me I was not playing anymore, I didn’t want to be around baseball for a while, then the game came back to me,” Takahashi said.
Takahashi led the Pride to three successive section finals, winning his first one last week. Now the team is a win away from playing for a NorCal championship as the CIF plays this tournament for the first time.