Prep baseball: Bradshaw Christian topples 33-0 Colusa to win first NorCal championship
David Wiser woke up Saturday morning without a worry in the world.
Then he suddenly had one.
Shortly after the freshman pitcher climbed into one of the two Bradshaw Christian High School baseball vans for a 90-minute drive to the heart of almond and walnut orchard country, he was informed that he would be his team’s starting pitcher. He was facing the biggest game of the season, and the last of the season, against a Colusa RedHawks team that came barreling in at 33-0.
Oh, and it would be his first varsity start.
No pressure, son. Enjoy the view.
Wiser was too poised to be concerned, and he performed like a wise young man beyond his years in the Northern California region Division IV championship. Backed by a terrific defense and an offense that scored seven times in the first inning, Wiser tossed a complete-game six-hitter and allowed no walks as Bradshaw Christian crashed Colusa’s party with a resounding 9-0 triumph. Players and coaches admired their winnings — medals and a big placque for the trophy case — and then everyone gleefully headed back to their Sacramento campus.
“Unbelievable,” is how Bradshaw Christian coach Kurt Takahashi said of Wiser’s effort and that of his young team in general. “We didn’t know who we’d start on the mound. I talked to David (on Friday) to get a feel for him. I talked to our two senior captains, Malachi Fuller and Joey Avila, and they both liked the idea of Wiser pitching. He was fantastic.”
So was the Pride this postseason in allowing just four runs in a 7-0 playoff showing. So was the season in general, ending at 26-4 and on a 16-game winning streak. And so was that infield of Fuller at second base, Michah Nicholson at shortstop and Ethan Rickert at third as they made spectacular plays or double plays to first baseman Joseph Grandchamp.
Wiser isn’t the only freshman to hook this wagon onto for another title run next season. Catcher Landon Carter is a freshman, as is Rickert. So is left fielder Dylan Wood, the complete-game pitching star in a 3-0 NorCal opening win over Madera South. Nicholson is a sophomore. So yes, there was joy in toppling the only unbeaten team in the state, regardless of division, and doing so on their turf. And there was optimism that despite graduating six seniors, Bradshaw Christian figures to be even better next spring.
A Colusa ballgame is an experience because this is a powerhouse that keeps upping its game. The RedHawks went 27-1 last season and then took off to a 33-0 start this spring, hoping and expecting to produce the second-best perfect season in state history behind national No. 1-ranked Chatsworth of Los Angeles County in 2004, when that program went 35-0.
Colusa dominated with stellar pitching this season, but the arms ran out by this game with ace Ethan Lay and Luke Kalfsbeek having given it their all to get their club this far. Lay, son of coach Eric Lay, was 14-0 this season. His ERA was 0.16 with 155 strikeouts in 85.1 innings. Kalfsbeek sported a 12-0 record and an 0.51 ERA. Colusa’s team ERA was 0.43 and they had a team batting average of .344 with 210 RBIs, 303 runs scored and 54 extra-base hits.
In other words, good luck. This team was a tall order. Colusa fans have rallied behind their teams for decades because that is what small towns do. There are more than 6,400 residents of Colusa according to the sign posted just outside the charming tree-laden downtown, and it seemed a good many packed into this cozy park, including a fleet of pickup trucks behind the outfield fences backed in to provide their own tailgate vibe.
Wiser relied on good command more than luck, and behold the Pride next season, and after that.
“I was a little nervous on the ride here but I was excited,” Wiser said. “We have the best defense and we scored runs.”
Coach Lay was classy in defeat. He praised Bradshaw Christian for its fine play and he credited his group for producing a record season. He also reminded his team that one bad day at the yard doesn’t define a team or a season, and sometimes you just lose to a better team. His team committed five errors in looking uncharacteristically out of sorts in the first inning.
“It just wasn’t our day,” the coach said. “It’s not the loss that hurts so much. It’s saying goodbye to (all these seniors). It was a dream season. But their guy (Wiser) was great. That’s a great defense (at Bradshaw), and they’re well coached. For us to beat them we had to play our best game, and we didn’t.”
Bradshaw Christian coach Takahashi said he could appreciate every bit of this outing. He once pitched in the minor leagues, so he admired his freshman pitcher’s guts and resolve. He grew up in Tulare County, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley where communities flock to sporting events. That’s what he saw here. And as a baseball purist, he marveled at Colusa’s overall record.
“Isn’t that just crazy what they’ve done, and this crowd?” said Takahashi, who credited his coaching staff of Drew Rickert, Dan Boyle and Darren Boyd. “It reminds me of home with this support. We also had a great crowd. We have some great years coming with all the kids we have coming back, and we have seventh- and eighth-graders in our school that are coming up and they’re good players. We have a saying: No one beats us except ourselves.”
That wasn’t going to happen here, not with the kid on the mound and that defense. Or that offense that seized on a chance to topple a juggernaut. Colusa came in with 14 strikeouts and nine additional games in which it allowed a single run.
BC leadoff man Fuller drove in two runs, Nicholson had two RBIs and Grandchamp and Rickert each drove in runs. But no one attacked the bases with more gusto than Cole Spake. The senior center fielder started the season slowly and then picked up steam, right about the time the 16-game winning streak started. He slid into third on one of his two stolen bases and he did the same at home plate to make it 9-0, his joy reflective of his teammates.
“It’s out last game and we all said before the game that we’d leave everything on the field,” Spake said. “I know I did.”
As for the fabulous freshman Wiser?
“We all love David,” Spake said. “We all have love for each other. David was a straight-up baller. He wasn’t even fazed.”
None of them were. That’s why they’re champions of the Sierra Valley Conference. It’s why they’re champions of Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 bracket, and it is why they went 3-0 in the NorCal rounds. The CIF introduced the NorCal playoffs for baseball and softball for the first time after years of discussions. Now Bradshaw Christian won’t stop talking about the experience.