Noah Navarro is heating up from the No. 9 spot in Manteca’s loaded lineup.
The senior third baseman bashed the first home run of his varsity career Tuesday in a 12-1 five-inning thumping of visiting Sierra on Wednesday.
The two-RBI shot was part of a six-run rally that gave Manteca a double-digit lead in the second inning. Nate Slikker later followed with a three-run homer later in the rally.
It was that kind of day for the still-undefeated Buffaloes (2-0, 8-0 overall), who will go for the series sweep at Sierra on Friday.
After a slow start to the season, Navarro is now 4 for 9 with four RBIs in Manteca’s last three games.
“I wanted first-pitch fastball and was looking to be pretty aggressive,” said Navarro, who connected on the first offering he saw from Sierra starter Jayden Pimental. “Soon as I saw that pitch, I just reacted and swung. The wind picked it up, I’m not going to lie, but I pretty much pieced it.”
The Buffs got production from 1-9.
Cleanup batter Devon Richardson went 2 for 3 with two doubles, two runs and three RBIs. Slikker ended 2 for 2 with a walk, three runs and four RBIs.
Sophomores Brody Carabello (2 for 2, walk, three RBIs) and Brody Carabello (1 for 1, two walks, two runs) were tone setters at the top of the order. Matthew Suarez, Jimmy Burns and Brennen Vega (2 for 2, walk) each knocked in a run.
The Buffaloes totaled 10 hits, drew six walks and took advantage of two errors.
“We found a lot of barrels today, which was nice,” Manteca coach Mark Ruiz said. “I felt like we did on Monday, as well (in a 7-6 comeback win); we lined out probably three to four times in that game. The talk and the preparation was about sticking to our plan, stick with our approach at the plate and they did that.”
It helped getting the big homer from an unexpected source. Navarro’s dinger kept the momentum rolling for the Buffaloes after they scratched across four runs in the first inning.
“It fired up the team,” Ruiz said. “Noah’s obviously not a home run hitter or anything like that, but we know he’s a player on our team. It’s a great moment for him, and I was super excited for him.”
With the offense have its way and the defense playing mistake-free behind him, Jeremy Cross was on cruise control in a mercy-shortened complete game that lasted just one hour and 10 minutes. He struck out eight and walked none in the near-shutout, scattering four hits.
It was a strong effort after giving up a leadoff single to Fabian Fuentes. He also gave up a leadoff infield single to Cole Martin in the third, but it wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Timberwolves (0-2, 4-4) got a runner in scoring position.
“Jeremy never shows any sort of emotion on the mound,” Ruiz said. “He just goes out there and executes the pitches that we’re calling. That just leads our team and puts us in a good spot.”
Sierra scored its lone run in the fifth. Riley Kane led off with a pinch-hit double, and Martin (2 for 2) drove him in with a one-out triple.
Cross got out of it with a groundout to third and a strikeout.
“They came out swinging the bats aggressive, and they definitely kept that going,” Sierra coach Travis Thomson said. “And then Cross kind of backed it up on the mound by shutting us down. When you play a team that is that aggressive and swing it that well, and then pitcher who’s that good at throwing fastballs and curveballs and changeups for strikes — it’s tough.
“We got a good, old-fashioned butt whooping, and it happens in baseball. We’ll go to sleep tonight, flush it tomorrow and try to give them more of a fight on Friday.”
