18 Apr Richmond High Varsity Baseball Tumbles To 13-3 Loss

Despite a lack of hits, Richmond High did not go quietly, taking advantage of walks, wild pitches and passed balls to make noise on the basepaths. But it wasn’t enough.

Story and photos by Joe Porrello

Good things come to those who wait. At least, it did for John Swett High.

After a 45-minute delay caused by an umpiring scheduling conflict, the Warriors earned their first win in 19 days — beating the Oilers varsity baseball team 13-3 at Richmond High on Wednesday.

Wind gusts over 20 mph throughout the game seemed to propel the Warriors baserunners, who ran away with the matchup using a season high 14 stolen bases.

Drawing eight walks as a team, Swett High’s seven hits, four extra-base-hits, and 13 runs were one off their season highs in each category. Patience and speed have been a calling card all year for a squad averaging seven runs per game despite a team batting average of .217.

The Oilers — who managed only one hit in the game — have been shut out four times and outscored by double digits in 14 of their 18 games. Currently, the team is ranked No. 1,163 of 1,243 teams statewide.

 

On Wednesday, they went down by three runs before even getting a chance to bat.

Swett High came out firing on all cylinders, amassing three hits and a pair of runs and stolen bases before recording an out.

 

Junior Warriors captain James Gibson — “Gibby” to his teammates and coaches — started things off with a leadoff triple. Pacing his squad in seven different offensive categories this season as catcher, Gibson made just his third pitching appearance and set the tone by throwing four innings of no-hit ball while notching nine strikeouts. 

“Instead of throwing as hard as I could, I just tried to locate my pitches where they needed to be,” he said.

 

On offense, Gibby collected game highs in runs (3), hits (3) and RBIs (3), while finishing just a single shy of the cycle. His sixth inning inside-the-park home run was the first round-tripper of his high school career and the Warriors first this season.

“It was really exciting to be honest; as soon as it came off my bat, it felt amazing,” he said.

Six-foot and 230-lb. sophomore Michael Golden — who does not have the typical build of a stolen base threat — swiped a game-high five bags while nobody else had more than a pair. He added a walk, two singles, two RBIs and two runs. Getting a rest from the mound, Golden is No. 2 in the Tri-County-Stone League with 54 strikeouts.

 

Sophomore Jayden Barker chipped in with a pair of stolen bases and runs, a walk and two RBIs bringing his team high to 15.

 

Five Oilers errors kept them from closing the scoring gap, while numerous Warriors wild pitches and passed balls gave Richmond High a fighting chance.

Scoring five runs in the second inning, the Warriors put up another five in the sixth, taking a 10-run advantage before the game was called due to a lack of sunlight.

Richmond High is now 2-24 against Swett over the previous two decades, their last win coming in 2019 before six straight losses.

 

Despite being winless (0-7) in TCSL play, the Oilers are having their best season in years. At 4-14 overall, they have more victories than the last 4 seasons combined — in which they went 2-50 collectively. 

“Hats off to their coach,” said Warriors head coach John Angell, in his sixth year with the team. “I feel like he should be coach of the year because he’s actually got this team back out being productive, and it’s really good to see.”

 

Coming in as the new Oilers head coach this season, Pat Noonan says he sees more wins than those in the standings.

“The big win is that they’ve learned and had a legitimate high school baseball experience — the last few years, they haven’t,” he said. “We now have real practices, real uniforms, real expectations, and they’re taking it on real well.”

Richmond High junior captain Juan Ambriz Lopez spoke about how far the Oilers have come.

“The team wasn’t connected my freshman year,” he said. “We didn’t practice every day, and when we did, there were like six of us on our own, usually without a coach.”

 

Still without an everyday coach last season, the Oilers players were frustrated, and the team disbanded, according to Ambriz Lopez. But he says the tide is turning.

“Slowly but surely, we’re improving and being more competitive against these teams,” said Ambriz Lopez. “It’s a breath of fresh air.”

He gave credit to new leadership as the driving force behind their culture change.

“Now we have a head coach and two assistant coaches that are as dedicated as us; they put in the time and the work,” Ambriz Lopez said.

Tony Calero is in his first year with the team as an assistant coach — as is his son Jeremiah — and has a mutual respect for his players.

“The kids that are here want to be here and are working hard,” he said. “We really started from scratch, but we’re getting a hell of a lot better and that’s fun to see.”

 

With multiple Oilers having never previously played organized baseball, Ambriz Lopez leads by example.

“I’ve been playing this game since I was young… I give 100% no matter how I’m feeling,” he said, with dark green grass stains covering his uniform and a hole in the knee of his pants.

Noonan says his greatest hope is that the whole team develops a deeper passion for the game. “I think they like baseball more now than when they started; we have players falling in love with the game for the first time.”

And Swett High is on their own upswing.

The Warriors (6-4-2) are on pace to have their most wins in seven years — a span during which they had no overall winning records.

After the teams meet again Friday in Crockett, the Warriors stay home to oppose 5-11 Bethel High on April 23 and Richmond High faces TCSL leading St. Patrick- St. Vincent High (14-3) in Vallejo the same day.