The Bee’s Top 20 baseball rankings: Herd is the word with 40-plus years of staying power
A big round sign tacked to the snack shack behind the backstop greets all comers when they visit the Elk Grove High School baseball. It reads: “Home of Thundering Herd Baseball: The House that Dreher Built”.
Dreher refers to Gary Dreher, the guru coach who elevated a solid program into a superb one in the 1980s and 1990s before his in-season death after suffering a stroke in 1996 at the age of 47. Later, over 18 championship seasons, including eight CIF Sac-Joaquin Section banners, Jeff Carlson added to the legacy, making that “house” more of a mansion.
Carlson helped mold scores of MLB players, and his longtime assistant coach, Joe Bellotti, has maintained order as the Thundering Herd head coach since 2018. The manor is in good hands.
Ranked fifth by The Sacramento Bee, Elk Grove is in the running for its 25th Delta League championship since 1986. The Herd showed some of its old magic last week by winning two of three games against rival Franklin, the defending Division I section champion.
“A big part of that tradition and that staying power is a lot of stuff takes care of itself,” Bellotti said. “The stability we’ve had with coaches helps. Players understand the history here, and they make sure they do their part. We talk about it openly here. There’s a big target on your back. There are expectations here that maybe aren’t there everywhere else. We want to embrace that because it’s pretty special here.”
Elk Grove is anchored by senior pitchers and returning Bee All-Metro players Ned Frutchey and Russell Pettis. Frutchey is a 6-foot-4, hard-throwing UC Davis commit who has an 0.85 ERA. The San Marcos-bound Pettis has a 1.69 ERA. Both are three-year varsity players who have settled into a nice groove this season, Bellotti said.
Frutchey allowed two earned runs, struck out five and walked one in a 4-3 Elk Grove win over Franklin, the second game of the series between the teams. In the third game, Elk Grove won 2-0 as Pettis tossed a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts and no walks. He tossed a gem and was aided by RBIs by Evan Gentil and Frutchey.
“The big thing with those two guys is they threw a lot of innings as sophomores, stepped into that front-line role as juniors and this season have really become comfortable,” Bellotti said. “The game slows down for them when they’re out there. They’re both competitors. You won’t see a lot of emotion out of them. They’re pretty cool, calm and collective.”
Elk Grove has other senior leaders in outfielders Ethan Groves (batting a team-best .429) and Troy Taylor (.353) and catcher Evan Gentil (.307, 16 RBI). The roster also includes a number of freshmen and sophomores who have played a big role this spring. That’s been tradition for decades at Elk Grove, where freshmen become four-year varsity players, initially mentored by older players and then they become leaders.
Elk Grove’s MLB crop
Elk Grove’s current MLB players are sluggers J.D. Davis with the Oakland Athletics and Rowdy Tellez with the Pittsburgh Pirates, infielder Nick Madrigal with the Chicago Cubs and outfielder Dylan Carlson of the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the son of retired coach Jeff Carlson.
Players competing on Triple-A rosters who have had MLB starts in the past are Dom Nunez and Derek Hill. Davis, Tellez, Carlson and Madrigal each were named The Bee’s Player of the Year. Each of them was a four-year starter, as was Nunez, mentoring the next wave.
Bellotti’s roots
Bellotti is a small-town product from Sutter Creek in Amador County, where he was a multi-sport player at Amador High. He helped his basketball team reach the state tournament and celebrated his baseball team’s section crown in 2001, the year he graduated.
Bellotti is in his 13th season at Elk Grove, where he teaches physical education. He runs into Carlson regularly on campus. Carlson stepped down from his Herd role to catch his breath and watch his sons play ball. Carlson and Bellotti talk shop and share stories of what was and what is still happening at the “House that Dreher Built”.
“I’ve fallen in love with it here, the school, the program, the people,” Bellotti said. “It’s been fun to be a part of. We’ve been inconsistent, too. Some of that is we have a lot of young players, and there’s a lot of good baseball out there. It hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine, but we’re getting better.”
SFL heavily ranked
The Sierra Foothill League has towered over the rest of the conferences in the section, as reflected in this week’s Bee rankings. The ranked SFL teams are No. 1 Whitney, No. 2 Rocklin, No. 4 Granite Bay, No. 9 Oak Ridge and No. 17 Del Oro.
Whitney and Rocklin are tied for first place entering Tuesday at 7-3 in SFL play. The teams are followed by Granite Bay (6-4), Oak Ridge (5-5) and Del Oro (4-6).
Folsom is in last place in the SFL with one victory, but the Bulldogs are hardly an easy out. They have a 3-2 loss in extra innings to Del Oro; 3-2, 2-0 and 4-1 losses to Whitney; a 4-2 loss in extra innings to Granite Bay; and a 4-3 loss to Rocklin.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Baseball
Records entering Tuesday
1. Whitney (15-7)
2. Rocklin (16-7)
3. Franklin (17-5)
4. Granite Bay (16-7)
5. Elk Grove (14-9)
6. Oakmont (16-6)
7. Woodcreek (16-6)
8. Bradshaw Christian (20-1)
9. Oak Ridge (10-12)
10. Roseville (14-6-1)
11. Vacaville (16-6)
12. Jesuit (13-10-1)
13. Sutter (17-3-1)
14. Laguna Creek (16-5)
15. Vista del Lago (19-3-1)
16. Lincoln (13-6-1)
17. Del Oro (11-12)
18. West Park (11-9)
19. Bella Vista (14-5-1)
20. Rio Americano (16-7)
Bubble: Casa Roble (14-7), Christian Brothers (11-11), Cordova (10-11-1), Davis (10-13), Del Campo (11-11), Florin (14-7), Folsom (10-13), McClatchy (15-6), Pioneer (17-5), Placer (13-9), Pleasant Grove (13-10), River City (15-8), Rio Linda (13-8).