Matthew Echivarre ended Turlock Christian’s go-ahead rally with a diving catch in right field, leaving two base runners stranded in the top of the third inning.
He then highlighted River Islands’ devastating 14-run onslaught in the bottom half with an inside-the-park grand slam. It was that kind of day for the fleet-of-foot junior and the rest of the Riptide in the statement-making 18-4 win at Islanders Field on Monday.
River Islands (3-0, 9-5 overall) stands alone at the top of the Central California Athletic Alliance standings after the five-inning drubbing, but the Eagles (2-1, 8-2) — Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII finalists last season — will get their shot at revenge Wednesday at home.
“Coach (Bill) York has got an amazing program, so anytime you can compete and put a game like that together against them, that’s huge,” River Islands coach Cody Kruip said. “They’re one of the best programs in the area. Everybody kind of sleeps on them, but they’re consistently in the fight every year. Getting a win like that, especially against a really good league opponent, just kind of sets the tone for the next game, so it’s super exciting.”
The Riptide sent 20 batters to the plate in the third inning, belting 11 hits while taking advantage of five walks, a hit batter and an error.
Daryl Carpenter delivered the first big blow of the barrage, a bases-clearing double that widened River Islands’ lead to 9-5. Carpenter had a triple later in the same inning and scored twice. He finished a home run shy of the cycle.
Then came Echivarre’s sprint around the base paths.
With the bases loaded, he took 1-0 pitch and lofted it to right field. Turlock Christian outfielder Max Salas initially misjudged the flight of the ball, which skipped off the top of his glove as he tracked back toward the fence.
And the race was on.
Cash Orndoff (3 for 4, double, two runs), Keoni Cervantez (2 for 2, double, four runs) and Devyn Kotecha (two runs) all scored in front of him, and Echivarre dove headfirst to the plate well before the ball there.
“As I saw the pitch coming right down the middle, I just took a strong swing,” Echivarre said. “When I saw the ball go over his head, I just use all my speed to get around the bases, but at the very end when I slid, that felt so nice.”
He finished 2 for 2 with two walks, two runs and six RBIs.
His speed came in handy in the top of the third when Turlock Christian plated all of its runs to take a 4-3 lead. The Eagles threatened to bring more home with two base runners on, but Echivarre robbed Brayden Small of a Texas League hit in shallow right field with his body at full stretch — and ballcap flying off his head — after sprinting toward the infield.
“Honestly, when I saw it up in the air, I paused for a little bit, tried to read it first,” Echivarre said. “I took one step back and hesitated a little bit, but then after that, I saw it confidently, ran and just dove for it.”
Israel Fuentes (3 for 3, RBI, run), Ahi Bysani (2 for 4, run, RBI) and Chase Salomon (2 for 3, two runs, RBI) also contributed to the hit parade.
The all-freshman battery of Orndoff and Salomon overcame some tough moments for the win. Salomon, the catcher, took two painful shots off of foul tips, one off his own bat.
Orndoff allowed the first four batters to reach in the third inning, and his own throwing error led to three runs for Turlock Christian.
“Nobody was hanging their heads,” Kruip said. “Cash Orndoff is one of our guys, and he took accountability. Everybody on this team said they were going to pick him up, and I think that was the thing that kept us in it, was that support for each other.”
His Riptide are rolling going into the rematch, having won four straight. Three of them ended via mercy rule.
“We took this game as a challenge to see where we are as a team,” shortstop George Dayeh said. He’s one of four seniors on the second-year varsity team.
“As great as a team they are, we were able to get the best of them today. We can’t change our mind set for Wednesday and keep playing the same ball that we have been.”
