Ripon Christian got a strong outing from sophomore Trenton Cloward while hammering out 11 hits of its own in a 12-2 rout of Sonora on Thursday, capping off the program’s first championship season in the Trans Valley League.
The Knights are in their second year back in the TVL after a successful run in the Southern League the previous 13 seasons, not counting the 2021 pandemic campaign. Coach John de Visser took over the program in 2010, and RC had its best finish in the TVL at 11-4 for second place. The Knights moved to the Southern League the following year.
The latest win — its 16th in a row — came just two days after Ripon Christian (11-1, 25-2) clinched the TVL title with a 15-0 victory at Sonora (0-12, 0-20). Almost a year ago to the date, the Knights were wrapping up a 6-6 TVL campaign that saw them finish fourth one of the toughest small school conferences in Northern California.
“The best part about it is this is the same group of guys,” de Visser said. “These kids have put in a ton of work over the last year and this accomplishment is a testament to that. We play a really fun, easy to coach brand of baseball that’s been as much fun as I’ve had in my coaching career.”
Any signs of a let down after clinching the title were non-existent early on as Cloward (five innings, seven strikeouts) struck out the side in the first inning, while his offense jumped on the Wildcats for a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame.
Jackson Howell (3 for 3, two Runs, RBI) started his senior day off on the right foot, leading off the bottom of the first with a hit before coming around to score on a fielder’s choice from Talen Tameling.
Ripon Christian’s other senior, Maxx Anderson, would restart a rally with one-out on a base hit before stealing two bases and scoring on an RBI single by Stadtler Postma to make it 2-0.
The first at-bat was just the start for Postma, as the sophomore center fielder finished the game with three hits, two runs scored, three RBIs and five stolen bases.
“I am seeing the ball really good right now,” Postma said. “Really just trying to go up there and take good at-bats, work the count to put myself in the position to see pitches I can drive.”
The Knights stole 19 bases in Thursday’s victory, running at seemingly every opportunity to put pressure on Sonora starting pitcher Grady Jasmer.
“It’s a really fun offense to be a part of,” Postma said. “Coach is calling a lot of these, but he also trusts us when we see something to go on our own, and to steal 19 bases without being caught just shows the trust he has in us.”
Pitching with the lead, Cloward continued to limit Sonora bats, getting through the third inning scattering just two hits and allowing zero runs.
“Pitching with the lead, I’m honestly just trying to throw strikes,” Cloward said. “We’re deep in the season with a lot of our guys having thrown a lot of innings, but I know with my defense behind me and what we are capable of offensively that just pounding the zone is key.”
Ripon Christian put the game out of reach in the bottom of the third, sending ten batters to the plate, scoring six runs on four hits. Postma once again got the offense going with an RBI single and the Knights saw the bottom of the lineup contribute with an RBI double from sophomore Jack Strickland. When the dust settled, the Knights took an 8-0 lead into the fourth inning.
Sonora battled back for two runs in the top of the fourth, but Ripon Christian answered with a run in the fourth, two in the fifth, and a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the sixth by Howell to end the game 12-2 and send the Knights into next week’s postseason.
The latest MaxPreps projections have Ripon Christian slated as the No. 1 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI bracket, facing the winner of a play-in game Wednesday at home.
De Visser is confident his team will be ready for whoever they play next week.
“Practice is really, really simple for us right now,” he said. “We’ll work on some fundamentals the next couple days but with the way we’re going its about rest and staying healthy so we can make a run at this thing.”
