Merced Union High School District

The El Capitan High baseball team continued its postseason tear with a 10-0 victory over Manteca to sweep the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III best-of-three semifinal series. The No. 7 seeded Gauchos improved to 25-7 on the season and extended their winning streak to 14 consecutive games.

 

El Capitan continued its stellar pitching as Benny Centeno threw a complete-game shutout for his fourth consecutive scoreless start, which has included 23 scoreless innings in a row. As a staff, the Gauchos have registered eight shutouts in the past nine games and have surrendered only two runs in their last 59 innings pitched.

 

“We do a really good job of pitching and playing defense and if you can do that you can win a lot of ballgames, especially in high school,” said El Capitan coach Aaron Ruiz. “That’s our goal, that’s our key and we knew that coming in and we try to excel at that.”

 

Manteca hadn’t been shut out all season and was held scoreless in both games this week. “They don’t care who they’re playing at this point,” Ruiz said. “They are playing themselves. They are playing their own game. They show up and the way they make it seem, it doesn’t matter if you’re 100-0 or 0-100, they are just going to go and play. That’s what they do.”

 

Centeno needed just 49 pitches to throw six innings. The game was stopped in the sixth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule. The senior right-hander struck out four and gave up just one hit and no walks. “What worked for me was  mixing a lot,” Centeno said. “I threw a lot of offspeed today. I didn’t throw a lot of fastballs. I threw a lot of changeups and sliders, just keeping them off balance.”

 

The Gauchos didn’t make any errors behind Centeno and offensively they received contributions up and down the lineup. Since the playoffs began, the bottom of the order has been on fire. Centeno had two hits, two runs and four RBIs out of the eight spot in the lineup to help himself. Brennan Casey had a hit and two runs at No. 6 in the lineup, Travis Pavey has been swinging a hot bat and Zach Hunter is hitting better than he has all season in the No. 9 spot.

 

“We all struggled in the preseason and league, but we’ve all caught fire at the right time,”
Centeno said. “We just need to keep on going.” Ruiz says it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaches. “We talked about that today, it’s interesting how those guys have stepped up this year,” Ruiz said. “You put up lineups all year long and you’re hoping and waiting and then all of sudden those guys just figure it out and explode when you need them the most.”

 

The Gauchos top hitters did their part as well with leadoff man Cooper Gaoiran collecting two hits and two runs and catcher Angel Rivera added two hits and two RBIs.  The Gauchos are firing on all cylinders right now. “We’re confident right now,” Gaoiran said. “I think the main cause is we’re bonded as a family and we stay together as boys. That’s what has helped us get as far as we are right now.”

 

Next up is the section championship game against top-seed Rio Americano (26-6), which swept No. 4 Christian Brothers in two games in the other semifinal series. The title game will be Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Sac City College. The Gauchos can’t wait for an opportunity to win the program’s first blue banner. 

 

“I’m just feeling excited, I’m feeling blessed that we have this team that we have right now and I’m excited to do it with these guys,” Gaoiran said.

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.