Bear River blanks Leroy Greene, remains unbeaten

Two of the top small schools in the Sac-Joaquin Section were in action Thursday afternoon in Lake of the Pines, as Bear River High School hosted defending Division VI Sac-Joaquin Section champion Leroy Greene Academy in a potential playoff preview. It was a pitcher's duel with just eight combined hits between the two teams, but Bear River came out on top with a 2-0 victory to remain unbeaten on the season. "This win is just a continuation of what we're trying to build here. I mean, it is only the seventh game of the season but I'm super proud of these kids," Bear River coach Russell Brackett said. "That's a very good baseball team that we just played. They were section champs last year for a reason." The Bruins looked to Kaden Nicholls to deliver the win and the sophomore did exactly that, striking out 13 and allowing just three hits. "Kaden had a tremendous game," Brackett said. "Leroy Greene came out with some momentum early that we kind of took from them right away and slammed the door on their offense." Nicholls got out to a slow start Thursday, as he found himself in a bases-loaded jam with just one out after hitting two batters, walking one, and a defensive error. It took 26 pitches to get the job done, but Nicholls was able to buckle down and strike out the next two batters to keep the Lions off the board. "I knew I just had to throw strikes. That's kind of what I was thinking," Nicholls said. "It was a simple approach. I wanted to keep my tempo and throw strikes. That's pretty much it." Nicholls said he was relying mostly on his two-seam fastball and curveball throughout the game, keeping the Lions guessing all afternoon. While he knew Thursday's matchup was a tough test for the Bruins, Nicholls said he came in with the same approach that he always does because to him, every game is a big game. "I treat every game like a section title game," Nicholls said. "I knew they were good and I came out here with the mindset of trying to beat them." Bear River turned to senior Keisen Hayden to close out the game. Hayden earned the save after recording the final two outs, striking out two of the three batters he faced to preserve the victory. The Bruins pushed their first run across in the second inning when Ben Barley drew a walk with the bases loaded. The next inning, Kaden Cavolt would ignite the offense by stretching what should have been a routine single to left field into a double thanks to his speed and heads-up baserunning. A throwing error advanced Cavolt to third and he came around to score thanks to an RBI single by Cooper Berry to extend the Bear River lead to two. "That's a single for almost every single person in this league but one thing about Kaden Cavolt is not only does he have speed, but he's a guy that really hustles out of the box," Brackett said of the play. "That ball ended up in front of the left fielder and he still found a way to get to second base pretty easily and move up to third on the throw." Brackett said that he felt Cavolt's hit swung the momentum completely in the Bruins' favor. Leroy Greene (5-2) starter Lamont Bufford Jr. was on the hook for the loss, but still had a strong outing with eight strikeouts in five innings of work. Bufford allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and walked six. The Lions will have an off day on Friday before facing Western Sierra on Saturday at West Park High School in Roseville. Bear River (7-0) will turn its attention to Pioneer Valley League play where it is set to host Marysville on Tuesday.