Herd is the word: Elk Grove baseball thunders to record 12th CIF section banner

They may have to expand the trophy case a bit at Elk Grove High School, particularly for the baseball accolades.

On Thursday night at Sacramento City College, the storied Thundering Herd added to the collection of hardware, defeating Rodriguez of Fairfield, 5-4, to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship.

Players dog-piled on the Union Stadium infield, though some of the coaches were pretty stoic about it, including head coach Joe Bellotti. Not that the coach tied to the program for 20 years, including since 2019 as the head chief, didn’t appreciate every bit of the fun.

Elk Grove thundered into the playoffs as The Sacramento Bee’s top-ranked team, winners of the Delta League that includes Division I finalist and defending champion Franklin and top-seeded St. Mary’s of Stockton, a team the Thundering Herd defeated earlier this season.

Bellotti was on the coaching staff for several section championship teams while assisting Jeff Carlson, and now he has his own crown that he says is shared by the staff. Carlson won a Sacramento regional-record eight section banners, and Elk Grove now has a section-record best 12 section baseball crowns. The first such crown came in 1981 when Mike Furtado was coach, then Gary Dreher won one in 1991, then Rusty McLain claimed one at his alma mater in 1997, of which Carlson was an assistant, then Carlson’s remarkable eight banners — and now, this one.

Bellotti said he takes none of the winning for granted, not in a region where baseball has been a thing for decades.

“Two years ago, we had a great game against Granite Bay here in the finals, and we lost, and you never know how many opportunities you get,” Bellotti said. “We felt pretty good about this group. Seven or our players were on that team two years ago. It’s not easy to win these.”

Fourth-year varsity starting infielder and Cal-bound senior star Chase Groves had two hits and drove in three runs, and Jayden Hernandez had a hit and RBI. Hernandez is the son of former Thundering Herd great David Hernandez, who played Major League Baseball, one of 16 Elk Grove alums to reach the big leagues.

Leadoff hitter Tristen Bartlett had three hits and scored three runs for Elk Grove, and he ended the game on the mound in relief of starter Anthony Bascherini, who struck out two and allowed two hits; and Brady Ramirez, who allowed two earned runs and struck out one. Elk Grove took a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Groves smacked a two-run double.

The Thundering Herd moved to 27-6 on the season and will play in a CIF Northern California contest. Groves said a lot of Elk Grove players grew up playing baseball, and their dreams included championships.

“It means everything to us,” he said.

This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 10:23 PM.

Joe Davidson

The Sacramento Bee

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Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.