A set of home games in front of cheering Bear Cub fans was all the SRJC baseball team needed to break out of a four-game slump and get back to controlling the diamond.
After a week of disheartening defeats, the Bear Cubs came back to beat the Feather River Golden Eagles 3-1 Friday, Feb. 24 then handed the Solano Community College Falcons a 14-2 loss the next day.
Pitcher Bryan Webster took the Bear Cub mound in Friday’s game, setting the stage for a weekend of stellar pitching and timely hitting.
Webster looked sharp, executing each pitch to near perfection in eight innings of shutout baseball. He seemed to blow through the lineup, but in the third inning ran into a jam when he threw four straight balls to walk a batter on with two outs. But Webster ended any threat by retiring the next batter on one pitch. By the end of the fourth inning, Webster had only given up two hits.
There was a bit of a scare in the fifth when a come-backer hit off Webster’s glove covering his face and trailed to the left side. First baseman Patrick Moniz dropped the ball on what would have been an exciting play for the out. Despite the hiccup, Webster shook it off and got the next batter to ground out to end the inning.
Webster gave his team every chance to win and the offense rewarded him. In the bottom of the fifth with two runners on, shortstop Nick Rodda hit a ball just past the reach of an outstretched second baseman. Fans and the Bear Cub dugout erupted in excitement as Siosi Poti streaked across home plate for the first run of the game. The Bear Cubs added two more runs later on: one off the bat of catcher Daniel Smith and another on an error
“Coach put on a 31 bunt, with runners at first and third. Guy threw a fastball on the outer half off the plate, just laid it down, did exactly what I was supposed to do,” Smith said of his sixth inning RBI.
SRJC had a chance to make a little noise in the eighth, but two consecutive runners were thrown out attempting to steal second base to end the inning.
Webster looked like he had to strength to go back out in the ninth, but head coach Damon Neidlinger put in Casey Bounsall to close it out. Webster ended up throwing eight innings with no runs on four hits, seven strikeouts, a walk and a hit batsman.
“I felt good. Everything was working,” Webster said. “My fastball and slider were working well for me, but I need to work on the changeup before my next outing to have a solid third pitch.”
The crowd sat anxiously as Bounsall loaded the bases, but cheered loudly when he escaped the jam having given up only one run. The team rushed on the field and celebrated its first win in over a week.
“It was a great win today. Everyone came out and pick each other up and we got it done,” Rodda said. “But tomorrow’s another game and we need to come out and play hard. Because they [the falcons] beat us pretty bad last game.”
Saturday’s blowout over the Falcons was nothing short of amazing. The Bear Cubs plated 14 runs to pay back the same team that stole 11 runs only two days prior. SRJC did it once again behind a spectacular pitcher, who was fired up on the mound and at the plate.
The designated hitter in Friday’s game, Matt Nadolski, took the baseball for the Bear Cubs, holding Feather River to two runs in seven innings. He allowed four hits, struck out six and issued three walks. But Nadolski was most impressive with a bat in his hand.
The fans cheered in excitement every time Nadolski stepped up to the plate, hoping for a ball over the left field fence. Nadolski ended up going 4-5 with two home runs, six RBIs and scored four runs. It is a very impressive feat for a pitcher to score more runs than he gave up.
“It was nice to go out there and help my team, especially since I had three strikeouts yesterday,” Nadolski said. “But today was good. I was seeing the ball well and and I got some good swings off. I’m just lucky I was hitting my spots out there, though I’d like a couple pitches back.”
Nadolski was not the only Bear Cub to have a good day at the plate. Several other players had RBIs including Brandon Baranzini with three; Brent Gillespie with two; and Rodda and Brian Bynum each with one.
“It felt great to put a whoopin’ on Solano after the loss we had the game before against them,” Webster said. “Matt [Nadolski] threw a great game and smashed the ball that game, along with everyone else that got hits.”
The team will play one last preseason game against Contra Costa College at 2 p.m. Feb. 28 at SRJC’s Sypher Field before beginning the regular season. The March 6 game against Modesto at home will be the team’s first match against a Big 8 Conference team.
The pre-season has impressed many spectators and the Bear Cubs have the look of a winning team. If the team can keep the momentum going from their impressive wins against Feather River and Solano, SRJC has a real good chance of playing post-conference baseball in May.
“Our main focus is being on time with every pitch, taking away the fastball on first pitch and making sure we can hit everything they throw at us,” Smith said. “Defensively, we got a solid team. As long as we keep swinging the bat well, we will roll into the season and be good competitors.”
