It is not easy to accomplish something for the first time in Chico State baseball history. There have simply been too many titles, too many wins, and too many great players. But Friday night, the Wildcats did something that no Chico State baseball team had done before by clinching their second straight California Collegiate Athletic Association title.
Casey Henderson hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth and made a lead-saving defensive play to end the eighth as Chico State opened a four-game series against Cal State East Bay at Nettleton Stadium with a 5–4 victory. Approximately one hour later, Cal State L.A. completed its come-from-behind victory against second-place UC San Diego to cement the Wildcats atop the CCAA standings in 2017. The last time Chico State baseball won consecutive conference titles came from when it won three straight in the Northern California Athletic Conference from 1996-98.
If there was a dogpile, it happened in one of the Wildcats' apartment. And we want pictures.
The Wildcats, who entered the weekend ranked No. 4 in the nation, improved to 35-7 overall and 28-3 in the CCAA. They have now won 10 straight at Nettleton Stadium, 22 of 23 this season, and 24 of their past 25 dating back to last season.
The Wildcats come out of the duguout to congratulate pitcher Anthony Baleto
and shortstop Casey Henderson on getting out of an eighth-inning jam.
Because of the unbalanced schedule (North Division teams play four-game series against fellow North Division teams, and three-game series versus teams from the South Division, and vice versa), the conference's coaches voted to make the winner of the postseason tournament the conference champion in 2016. Chico State won the conference tournament and earned the CCAA title.
This season, the coaches voted to make the team with the highest regular-season winning percentage the conference champion. The Wildcats have now clinched that title with seven games remaining in their 38-game conference schedule. UC San Diego is now seven games behind the Wildcats, and the Tritons have just six to play.
This is how dominant the Wildcats have been: They are six wins (in their final seven games) shy of boasting the best in-conference CCAA record on record, and four wins from one of the top two records in conference history. They are also only four wins shy of Chico State's best conference winning percentage since the 1953 team went 10-0 in the Far Western Conference.
Chico State's defense is a big reason why. And Henderson is one of the big reasons the Wildcats lead the nation in fielding percentage at .983 and have a great chance to be just the third team in Division II history to finish with a fielding percentage of .980-plus. The Wildcats also have a chance to break the Division II record for fielding percentage of .984, set by UC San Diego in 2010.
The play of the game reads like this in the scorebook:
FOREMAN reached on a fielder's choice; RESCH out at second ss to 2b.
But it was so much more complicated than that. With runners on the corners and two down in the eighth, closer Anthony Baleto came on to attempt a four-out save. He made a good pitch–maybe too good–and all Wyatt Foreman could do with it was cue a chopper onto the infield grass. Henderson had to make a do-or-die play, charging the ball on an in-between hop. He flashed quick hands to glove it belt high, and then threw across his body to get the force-out at second base.
"How did he do that," asked one player from the Wildcats dugout, as many of them mimed Henderson's quick hands and creative release on the play.
Baleto allowed a one-out single in the ninth, but the Wildcats turned a game-ending double play Henderson-to-Casey Bennett at second-to first baseman Dillon Kelley to secure Baleto's sixth save.
Starter Hunter Haworth allowed four runs in six innings, but earned the victory, improving to 7-1. Stuart Bradley pitched well in relief, retiring five batters without allowing a hit. The Wildcats have now won 11 of Haworth's 12 starts this season and 19 of his last 21 dating back to last season.
Kelley, usually the team's designated hitter, made a rare start at first base Friday. He played well defensively, and even better with the bat in his hand, going 3-for-4 with three RBI to run his hitting streak to seven games. He has reached base safely in 25 in a row. Josh Falco stretched his hitting streak to 12 games and his consecutive games reaching base streak to 32, going 2-for-4 with two singles that didn't leave the infield. Cameron Santos tripled home a run, bumping his school record to 13 career triples and making it 30 games in a row that he has reached base. He also has a seven-game hit streak.
Cody Snider went 2-for-3, scored twice, and has now hit safely in eight straight games and 15 of his last 16.
Cal State East Bay (24-18, 15-15 CCAA) is in a battle for its postseason life this weekend. But every time the Pioneers grabbed some momentum, the Wildcats grabbed it back.
The Pioneers scored twice in the first. Kelley clobbered a two-run single to left in the bottom-half of the inning to tie the game.
After Chico State grabbed a 4-2 lead in the third when Santos tripled home Snider and Kelley hit an RBI-grounder, the Pioneers got a run back in the fourth and then tied it in the sixth with their third solo home run of the night.
Henderson responded with his fourth round-tripper of the season, a solo shot to left-center, that put Chico State in the lead for good.
The Wildcats have now answered an opponents' score in six of their last seven opportunities. Three times during that streak the opposition has scored a pair of runs. All three times the Wildcats have answered with two of their own.
The series continues with a doubleheader Saturday at noon, and concludes with a single game Sunday at noon. That is also Senior Day for the Wildcats, who will be playing their final home game of the season. Come out early to celebrate the careers of Chico State's 16 seniors, all of whom have been a part of making history over these last two seasons. That ceremony is scheduled to start at approximately 11:30.
