Stockdale jumps on Clovis West early, repeats as section champion
| Friday, May 29 2009 11:50 PM
Last Updated Friday, May 29 2009 11:50 PM
FRESNO -- Judging by the impromptu, festive dogpile Stockdale made on the pitcher's mound, it was impossible to tell this year was different.
But it was -- for the most part, there was no drama, no chewed fingernails, no late-inning comeback.
There can also be no mistake: For two years running, Stockdale has had the best high school baseball team in the Central Section.
The Mustangs romped 6-2 past second-seeded Clovis West at Stan Bledsoe Field on Friday, becoming the first Kern County team in more than 50 years to win back-to-back Division I section baseball championships.
"It's these kids," Stockdale coach Dan Lemon said. "What they did for Stockdale and Kern County is tremendous. I can't say enough about them. I love them. They're super."
Last year, the Mustangs trailed Clovis by three runs at home when they staged an improbable two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh and won the game 7-6 in the eighth -- a result that was viewed with skepticism in some northern circles, especially after Clovis swept Stockdale to start this season.
Any rally was unnecessary this time around. Senior first baseman K.C. Hobson rocketed a two-run home run over the right-field wall in the first inning, and with senior Philip Valos on the mound, the Mustangs (26-5) never looked back.
"It's like excitement in a different way," Valos said.
Hobson's homer -- his section-leading 15th of the year -- was followed by a gifted run from Clovis West (29-6) that came on a catcher's interference call, a passed ball and two errors.
"Those three runs, that helps a lot," Valos said.
Valos would need no more. He set down the seven batters he faced and struck out eight, allowing two unearned runs, four hits and two walks, in a complete game.
"The kid was tremendous," Lemon said. "That might have been one of the greatest pitching performances I've seen in a long, long time. He was locating his curveball first, pitching backwards on guys, and he just got going."
Still, things were tight into the sixth. Clovis West's J.D. Salles, a Fresno State signee, settled down nicely after he hung the fateful curveball to Hobson, who's headed to Texas A&M, in the first. At one point, Salles retired 11 Mustangs in a row before Ryan Atherly singled in the fifth.
"J.D.'s a competitor, but that's the breaks," Clovis West coach Kevin Patrick said. "... It'd be one thing if we didn't play well, and we weren't playing a good team. But it's the exact opposite. (Stockdale) is a very good ball club."
In the sixth, Stockdale was clutch again. Salles bounced a pitch that hit Hobson in the foot, and Isaiah Turner hit a towering homer to right that made it 5-1.
"Gigantic," Lemon said, and he didn't mean the height of the ball. "That made it so that one swing could no longer beat us, a little breathing room."
Kyle Desimone hit another ball over the right-field wall in the seventh, the Mustangs' third home run out of just five hits.
Then, when Valos worked out of one last jam -- Clovis West put two runners on with two outs in the seventh, eerily similar to Stockdale's rally in last year's championship -- by striking out Joe Smith, the dogpile ensued.
Stockdale brought home the third straight baseball title to Bakersfield (Centennial won in 2007) and, according to section historian Bob Barnett, became the first Kern County team to repeat a big-school title since Bakersfield High won three straight in a different era, 1951-53.
"We've got a special team," said Stockdale assistant Greg Showers, who's been with Lemon since Day 1 at the school. "This is once in a coach's lifetime, this group right here."
So it was a feat worthy of celebration. Lemon got an ice-water shower that Hobson unwittingly shared because he was standing nearby. The team gathered for pictures in front of the scoreboard. And they passed around the championship plaque like this was going to be cherished for a long time.
"Last year was more dramatic," Hobson said, "but this is just as good. It is really special."
Central Section Division I championship
No. 4 Stockdale 6, No. 2 Clovis West 2
Stockdale 300 002 1-- 6 5 2 Clovis West 000 101 0--2 4 2
W -- Valos (10-1). L -- Salles (8-3). 2B -- CW (Rowan, Smith). HR -- Stock (Hobson, Turner, Desimone).
Other championship scores
Div. II -- No. 2 Fresno-Edison 11, No. 13 Fresno-SJ Memorial 6
Div. III -- No. 2 Hanford 11, No. 5 Madera South 7
Div. IV -- No. 2 Fresno-Washington Union 2, No. 4 Selma 1
Div. V -- No. 1 Madera Ranchos-Liberty 7, No. 3 Corcoran 4
