Trojans win Hamilton baseball tourney
The Quincy baseball team is doing more than warming up down the hill in comparative toasty climates, the boys are winning! QHS boys won the second tournament of their season in Hamilton with a series of wins.
Quincy vs. Hamilton Braves
Winning its first game against the host Braves team 13-4 must have felt good for the Trojans who came in second to host team Los Molinos in the Bulldogs’ tournament March 10.
The Braves put some effort into scaring off the Trojans when they scored three runs in the first inning to a QHS single mark, but that was it; the Trojans didn’t let the Braves score another single run until the bottom of the final inning when Quincy had 13 runs on the scoreboard.
Every member of the Quincy team scored runs against the Braves. Ryan Fernandez, Simon McQuarrie, Brady Peay and Anakin Borghi each scored two runs. Drew Baumgartner, Kainoa Hall, Devin Vert, Dominic Rinetti and Johnny Pini each crossed home plate to score. Borghi led RBIs with three; Baumgartner, Vert, Rinetti and Peay each knocked in two. Baumgartner, Peay and Borghi hit doubles.
The Trojan team batted .478 against the Braves’ pool of nine pitchers and was struck out just once.
Playing hard for the Trojans, Baumgartner made seven outs and Fernandez made six. Peay and Rinetti each had two assists.
Primary pitcher for the Trojans was Peay who struck out four Braves. Rinetti took the mound for an inning facing five batters and struck out one Hamilton player.
Quincy vs. Willows Honkers
On the following day, the Trojan boys played a close game against the Honkers and were victorious 7-5. It was a standoff with both teams playing outstanding defense. No runs hit the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Trojans broke out with three runs.
That must have really made those Honkers mad because they came back with five runs of their own and held the Trojans motionless in the bottom of the sixth. The score remained frozen through the Honkers’ final at bat in the top of the seventh inning, but the Trojans laid it on thick scoring four runs and thus claiming the game.
Freshman Vert hit three RBIs, Baumgartner two and Fernandez and McQuarrie one each. Coming across home plate was Fernandez twice and Hall, McQuarrie, Rinetti, Pini and Borghi.
The Willows pitcher that caused the most damage was Danny Valdez who struck out eight Trojan batters.
Quincy utilized tough pitchers Hall and Borghi to hold the Honkers at bay for the majority of the game. Borghi struck out four and Hall struck out two from Willows.
Quincy vs. Etna Braves
On the third and last day of the tournament, the Trojans took on the Lions and won, in another close game, 3-2.
It was a slow and steady pace that earned the win for the Trojans. They scored first in the first inning, and then again in the fifth, score 2-0. When the Lions added two runs in the top of the sixth inning, the Trojans came back in the bottom of that same inning for what turned out to be the single winning run. QHS held their ground with the Lions in the top of the seventh to win the top spot in the tournament.
Trojan pitcher Drew Baumgartner pitched the entire seven-inning game, striking out 15 Lion batters. Fernandez, McQuarrie and Borghi scored runs.
What’s next?
The Quincy boys are off the schedule until March 29 when they travel to Nevada to compete in the HUG tournament and challenge teams from Bakersfield, Reno and San Francisco.
Fans who want to see the boys play locally may wish to cross their fingers. The Trojans hope that an end to snow covered ball fields will occur around Tuesday, April 10, when they take on the Tigers on the Portola High diamond. The rivalry game will take place at 4 p.m.
