El Capitan’s pitching machine keeps dealing shutouts as Gauchos blank Manteca.
El Capitan High baseball coach Aaron Ruiz didn’t decide on his starting pitcher until about an hour before Tuesday’s game, which was the first of a best-of-three Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinal series. Ruiz played a hunch and opted for senior right-hander Matt McQuillen and he delivered.
McQuillen pitched six scoreless innings as the No. 7 seeded Gauchos defeated No. 3 Manteca 3-0 to move one win away from punching their ticket to their first section championship game since 2016. “McQuillen is a big-game pitcher and I’ve known it a long time,” said Ruiz, whose team improved to 24-7 and extended their winning streak to 13 consecutive games. “He tends to step up when the game means something and he brought it today.”
Ruiz has a stable of aces with McQuillen, Benny Centeno and Zach Hunter. The trio has a combined record of 20-6 this season with a 2.17 ERA so it isn’t like Ruiz can make a poor choice. The El Capitan pitching staff has been rolling, throwing seven shutouts in the last eight games. The Gauchos have only surrendered two runs in the last 53 innings pitched.
“We’re blessed to have these guys,” Ruiz said. “This is the third year we’ve had those three guys and we’re going to miss those guys. We’re blessed with those arms and I have to tip my cap to our pitching guy. Ryan (Sanchez) does a good job of keeping them on balance and in check.”
McQuillen made the big pitches when he needed against the Buffaloes (22-9), stranding eight runners on base, including five in scoring position. He was able to pitch around six hits and four walks with the help of two double plays turned by the Gauchos defense. McQuillen said his gameplan coming in was simple. “Throw strikes and allow my defense to work,” he said. “If I can get whiffs, I can get whiffs, but I was trying to keep the pitch count low. That didn’t happen. We take pride in defense. That’s the main thing with us.”
McQuillen had a lead to work with early as the Gauchos struck for two runs in the top of the first against Manteca ace Jeremy Cross. Angel Rivera scored the first run on a wild pitch and then Noah Ruiz delivered an RBI-double with two outs to plate McQuillen for the 2-0 lead. “That helped a lot,” McQuillen said of the early lead. “It gave me more confidence from the start. I knew I had a little room for error.”
Zach Hunter appeared to add an insurance run in the fifth with a deep fly ball that appeared to land over the right field fence for a home run. The fence is a temporary clear mesh fence from right to center field. Hunter rounded second base in his home run trot when he was informed the umpires ruled the ball bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. Ruiz questioned the call, but the ground-rule double call stood.
El Capitan’s Aidan Witt made it a moot point when he delivered a two-out single to score Hunter to extend the Gauchos’ lead to 3-0. El Capitan sophomore Brennan Casey relieved McQuillen in the seventh inning and closed out the game with a scoreless inning.
The Gauchos will host game two of the series on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Buffaloes will try to force a game three back in Manteca on Friday with a win. An El Capitan win would send the Gauchos to the section championship game on Wednesday, May 20th. “It’s a crazy feeling,” McQuillen said. “We’re working hard for it and that’s our goal.”
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.