Folsom cruises by Bella Vista, 15-5, now 5-0

Sal Rivera enters his second year as coach of Folsom High's varsity baseball team and he's optimistic for the season. One reason why is the team has won its first five games, but another important reason is he likes his players. "I've got a really good group of players," Rivera said. "We got a lot of players back from last year who got playing experience and playoff experience. We've also got two freshmen up on the team starting, so we've got a good mix of upper and lower classmen. I'm very optimistic for the season." Folsom's starting rotation will feature pitchers David Engelton, Caden Heitmeyer and Will Dreussi, while the bullpen will feature, among others, Caden Scanlon, Sean Perry, Jaxson Brown and Will Clancy. Offensively, all-league shortstop Gavin Tietz returns to lead the team and Rivera said he expects good things from Angelo Orozco (third base and designated hitter). "We've got a lot more speed this year; we handle the bat a lot better and we've done a better job with two strikes," Rivera said. As for league play, Rivera said he's not sure how it looks because last year graduation hit several teams hard. Because of that, he feels the league will be open and any team could win it. Folsom has started the season with five wins through Friday's 15-5 win over Bella Vista. Folsom banged out 13 hits in the five inning game. Manny Orange had three hits and scored three runs in the win, while Tietz and freshmen Kamren Avila and Blake Sargent all had two hits. Tietz scored two runs, while Avila scored three runs and drove in two and Sargent knocked in two runs and scored once. Orozco scored twice, while Michael Callahan had one hit and drove in four runs. Engelken allowed five earned runs and five hits in 4.2 innings, striking out seven. Folsom plays host to Campolindo at noon on Saturday.