Granite Bay sweeps Bulldogs

Tuesday's 5-2 win over Folsom lifted Granite Bay into sole possession of second place in the Sierra Foothill League, as they improved to 7-3, as they moved a half-game behind Jesuit, 8-3. Folsom, meanwhile, dropped their fourth straight league loss to fall to 6-5 and drop to fourth place behind Oak Ridge. The Bulldogs led 2-0 after four innings. In the first inning, Blake Sargent drew a two-out walk and scored on Manny Orange's triple. In the fourth inning, Michael Callahan singled and was replaced on first by pinch-runner Devin Hodgins. Jack Blinn followed with a single; Ethan Tietz bunted him to third and Gavin Tietz brought him home with a single. Granite Bay came back with three runs in the fifth to take the lead. Dylan Tetz doubled off Folsom starter David Engelken and JC Peterson walked before both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Andrew Jones then knocked both runners in to tie the game with a single and advanced all the way to third on the throw. Isaac Schroeder then drove in Jones with a single. The Grizzlies put two more runs on the board in the sixth on when Logan Sanchez singled and Noah Paul doubled to put runners on second and third. Tetz then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Jones later was safe on an error that allowed Paul to score. Monday's baseball game between Granite Bay and Folsom featured two teams who when they play well look really good, but when they don't, winning games is a struggle. The Grizzlies won three games at the Boras Classic before losing the championship game by blowing a four-run lead in the bottom of the seventh and then losing it in extra innings. They came back and beat Del Oro, 7-1, and then lost to the Golden Eagles, 9-5. Folsom won six of its first seven league games and have now lost three straight, dropping two games to Oak Ridge, 3-1 and 7-5, before losing to the Grizzlies, 8-4. Defense has been the major problem, as the Bulldogs have committed seven errors in the three losses and most if not all of them have been capitalized on by the opponent. Monday was no different. Folsom came out like teams want to come out when they're playing on the road by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Orange drew a leadoff walk from Connor Boese, moved to second on a sac bunt from Blinn before Gavin Tietz reached on error. Sargent and Angelo Orozco followed with RBI singles before the inning ended with a back-pick at first base. In the bottom of the first inning, Jones reached base on a Folsom error before Schroeder drove him in. Another error later in the inning kept momentum on Granite Bay's side before Boese tied the game with another RBI hit. "We did a really good job coming out and putting up a two-spot, but then we get back-picked at first base," Folsom coach Sal Rivera said. "Who knows if we get another hit, a passed ball, an error, but we're done. Then they match our crooked and we commit two errors and we give it right back to them. It's tough. It's frustrating. We've got to figure it out defensively." Folsom had some big hits in the game, more on that later, but they also came up with nothing in big moments at other times. In the top of the second, the Bulldogs had their first two hitters reach base on a double by Callahan and a walk to Alex Blount, but failed to score. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning, as Jones hit a one-out triple and scored on Kenny DeVault's single and then Schroeder singled and advanced to third on a two-base error when the ball got by Folsom's right fielder, scoring DeVault all the way from first. The fourth inning was even worse than the second inning for the Folsom offense, as they loaded the bases with three consecutive singles from Devin Schuster, Callahan and Blount but again, Boese got out of the jam without allowing a run to score. Jones hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the Grizzlies in front, 5-2, but Folsom made a comeback in the sixth. With one out, Schuster and Callahan both singled and moved up a base with a ground out for the second out of the inning. Pinch-hitter Braeden Martinez then clutched up and hit a two-run single to right field to bring the Bulldogs to within one-run, 5-4. Kamren Avila then stole second before moving to third on an infield hit by Orange before relief pitcher Ian Brooks got out of the inning with a strikeout. The Grizzlies answered right back, as they scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, as Lukas Franco and Connor Cruz had RBI singles and Boese doubled in another run. "We hit the ball a lot better than we have in some games," Granite Bay coach Pat Esposito said. "We've been hitting all year, but we like to do our best Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde impersonation. We definitely have the talent to be consistent with the way we play, but it's just that some days you feel great, some days you're OK and other days you just feel like crap." Boese threw 5.2 innings and had runners on base all game, allowing four runs, but battled and got some big outs. At the plate, the sophomore also had three hits and two RBIs. "Connor is a gamer," Esposito said. "He goes out there and does his thing. He's cerebral; he's in the game and knows what he wants to do. He's learning to be a student of the game. At the plate, sometimes he runs into it and sometimes he doesn't, but more often than not he's done well for us. I'm proud of him." It was another disappointing loss for the Bulldogs, who simply need to clean up their defense. "We left a lot of runners on base, but I thought we did a good job in the box for the most part," Rivera said. "We executed and had some guys come in and clutch up in some tough situations. It's very hard to beat two teams: yourself defensively and the other team. Granite Bay is really good. They swing the bats really well and when you're giving them opportunity after opportunity, it's hard to win. "Our pitchers are doing a good job throwing strikes; they're not walking guys, they're not hitting guys, we just need to figure out how to play defense." Added Esposito, "We're still sniffing for the top (of the standings). "We're trying to get up there. We've got Davis coming up (who has yet to win a game). Those guys scare me more than anyone else."