STOCKTON — Jeremy Wager-Smith was just too much for Ripon Christian to handle on Thursday.
The Vacaville Christian sophomore held the Knights to two hits through the first six innings before yielding three in a row to start the seventh, but by that time it was too late as the Falcons came away with a 5-2 win in Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoff action at Stagg High School.
“He (Wager- Smith) did a nice job of mixing up his pitches,” Ripon Christian coach John De Visser said. “We didn’t get things going until too late.
“The kids put the effort in but we just didn’t execute.”
The Knights (18-4) got their first run in the third inning when Daniel Hannick walked, went to second on Dominic Darretta’s sacrifice bunt and came home when Travis Zuidervaart’s infield single was misplayed.
Ripon Christian added another run in the seventh when Jaden Vander Molen, Hannick and Brandon Vrieling all singled to start the inning with Vander molen coming in on Vrieling’s hit, but that was as close as the Knights would come.
The Falcons (16-11) rapped out nine hits, but five of them were for extra bases.
“We have had the extra-base hits on and off throughout the season,” Vacaville Christian coach Steve Brassfield said. “But today was a little bit more than normal — at the right times with runners on, too. We talked to the players today about getting the big hits to get runners in.”
Vacaville Christian had a double in the first, fifth and seventh innings and a triple in the third and sixth innings. The Knights had runners aboard in the first and second inning with Travis Zuidervaart leading off the game being hit by a pitch and Jake Groshong reaching on an error in the second, but both were part of inning-ending double plays.
Ripon Christian comeback too little, too late in D6 opener

