Combined no-hitter lifts Whitney over Woodcreek

Two of the Sac-Joaquin Section's top baseball teams were in action Friday night under the bright lights of Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, as Whitney and Woodcreek faced off on a nonleague bout. Both coaches expressed their gratitude for the River Cats and the ballpark for opening their doors for the game. "It's a lot of work on the back end for coaches, admin, parents and families, and for the whole program, but we're really thankful that the River Cats provide this opportunity to us," Whitney coach Jackson Watt said. "This is something these kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives." "It's incredible. The seniors get to soak this in and enjoy. It's probably the nicest field they're gonna play on in the area," Woodcreek coach Lucas Conn said. "These kids grow up here going to games. It was pretty cool." The bright lights of a minor league ballpark were not too bright for the Wildcats, as five pitchers combined for a no-hitter in a 10-2 victory. Whitney's no-hitter comes just three days after getting no-hit on Tuesday against Oakmont. Noah Warner got the start on the mound for the Wildcats, pitching two strong innings before turning things over to Brady Estes, who was dominant with seven strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. "I just came in trying to continue what we were doing. Noah went out there he pitched two great innings and then it was my turn so I had to keep the momentum going," Estes said. "I had to keep executing my pitches and just do my job. I'd go changeup to get hitters two strikes and then throw a fastball and it was working." Estes said Whitney's performance Friday night was a statement to its team motto this season, "turn the tables." The Wildcats were able to do exactly that after getting no-hit themselves and Estes said it was a key win to regain some positive momentum. Watt echoed Estes, saying, "I'm really proud of our guys and how they responded to that adversity. Oakmont was a really good team. They did things really well. We made some adjustments and came out here executed our plan and then the combined no-hitter with our pitchers was huge. That's super special." Despite getting no-hit, Conn said that he didn't see anything that concerned him with his Woodcreek team and that it needs to continue to stay the course and not let a bad night carry over. "We need to continue with our approach. Early on with this game, we were hitting shots bu just right at their guys," Conn said. "Things weren't falling our way, we kind of tried to do a little bit too much. We were chasing outside a little bit and we just need to be calm, stay within ourselves and be able to control we can control." Whitney's offense excelled, as the Wildcats amassed 11 hits in the win. Four Wildcats had multiple hits in the win in Luke Oyler, Jax Gimenez, Corden Pettey, and Josh Mendoza. Gimenez, Pettey, and Mendoza each drove multiple runs home as well. Watt said that he was happy with the overall consistency that Whitney showed throughout the game, noting that the Wildcats were solid in their pitching, hitting, and defense. "We're starting to execute everything that we want: pitchers throwing more strikes, overall hitters having a good two strike approach, putting balls in play line drives, and our defense didn't make an error today," Watt said. "If you make fewer mistakes than the other team in high school baseball, you're probably going to win." Whitney kept its hot start going Tuesday with another impressive win, beating the top-ranked Franklin Wildcats 2-1 in Elk Grove in a rematch of last season's D-I Sac-Joaquin Section championship game.