Tigers baseball has rocky start
Senior James Sampson fires Tiger pitches in the early innings of the game from the Loyalton pitchers mound March 10. Photo by Mari Erin RothThe Portola Tigers kicked off their season with a visit to Loyalton where the Grizzlies tuned them up winning 10-0 on March 5.
The Grizzlies made use of sophomore pitcher Dalton Hoyos for all five innings. Hoyos struck out eight Tigers facing 21 batters using 76 pitches. One base was stolen while Hoyos stood at the mound.
The Tigers traveled to Nevada for a game March 6 with HUG to score two runs on the HUG Hawks while the birds of prey racked up 13. Portola scored both of their runs in the fourth inning.
Improving with each game, the Tigers traveled to Fall River Mills to meet the Bulldogs on March 7 and scored five runs to the Bulldog 13.
The Tigers scored a run in the fourth inning and four in the sixth inning. Senior Justin Wicks, junior Zach Mulhall, sophomore Sean Sheridan and senior Irving Juarez scored a run each. Two RBIs were hit by sophomore Sage Adams and one each came from Sheridan and sophomore Jackson Powell.
The pitcher(s) stats for this game had not been entered for the Portola Tigers at press time.
PHS baseball returned to Loyalton to show the Grizzlies what they have been learning on the road. The bears won again, but the score included six runs from the Tigers to Loyalton’s 19.
Loyalton tried out four different pitchers this time: seniors Greyson Johnson, Brock Griffin and Logan Anseth, and sophomore Clayton Dellera.
Portola pitching came courtesy of juniors James Sampson and Zach Mulhall. No further stats were entered at press time for the Tigers. But, the bases were loaded multiple times for the Tigers. Often a hit would come to score a run but not the big bullseye from the strike zone that might have evened up the score.
The Tiger team has several fresh faces. Three seniors play: Justin Wicks, Irving Juarez and Cody Callahan. Four juniors are on the team: James Sampson, Elijah Lopez, Jaden Bok and Zach Mulhall. The majority of the players are sophomores: Cade Wilmer, Sean Sheridan, Jackson Powell, Gabriel Ismero, Sage Adam and Michael Stewart. Two freshmen play for the Tigers: Brandon Cokor and Jonathon Fish.
The Tigers took their game to the Maxwell tournament March 13 and hosted Chester in a match March 16.
Tiger fans will be treated to a long series of home games that include the Tiger Tournament on March 26, 27 and 28.
First up are the Greenville Indians at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 26. Next up, the Volcanoes step to the plate in Portola on Friday, March 27 at 10 a.m. The Biggs Wolverines are on the schedule during the tourney to take on the Tigers at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 28.
After the tournament dust settles, the Tigers host the Quincy Trojans for a rivalry game Tuesday March 31, at 4 p.m. Hopefully all of this action will take place on the newly redesigned Tiger baseball diamond and surrounding area.
Portola home games
3/16 Chester 4 p.m.
3/26 Greenville 4 p.m.
3/27 Chester 10 a.m.
3/28 Biggs 2 p.m.
3/31 Quincy 4 p.m.
4/3 Maxwell 2 p.m.
Maxwell 4 p.m.
4/4 HUG 11 a.m.
HUG 1:30 p.m.
5/2 Greenville 11 a.m.
