When the Live Oak High baseball team played in the Blossom Valley League’s Mount Hamilton Division two years ago, things didn’t go so well. The Acorns finished the league season in last place with a 2-12 record. Live Oak promptly got demoted to the BVAL’s B division for last season, the Santa Teresa.
The Acorns won the division championship with an 11-3 mark, prompting a promotion back up to the Mount Hamilton this season. They’re hoping for a better experience this time around.
“When we were in the B league, all anyone talked about was wanting to play in the A league again,” Acorns coach Matt Brotherton said. “Our players wanted it—now we’ll go see if they really want it.”
Live Oak entered Thursday’s non-league game against St. Francis of Watsonville at 3-3, having had its game against crosstown rival Sobrato rained out. The Acorns are coming off a 4-2 loss to Piedmont Hills last Friday. Live Oak took a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning before the Pirates scored four runs in the top of the frame.
“We’ve been struggling with the bats, and that continued,” Brotherton said. “We’re in a little bit of funk right now, and hopefully that will change in the next week or so.”
The Acorns finished with six hits—all singles—and scored their only run on a Justin Sakai single with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sakai and fellow junior Jakob Neumayer will pitch the majority of the innings whenever senior ace Andrew Lopez is not on the mound.
Lopez mowed down the Piedmont Hills lineup through six—he finished with nine strikeouts—before things started to unravel in the seventh. Lopez surrendered two infield singles, hit a batter and a yielded a bases-clearing double before Gabe Milos came on in relief with no out in the seventh.
Despite the loss, Lopez showed great stuff, mixing a strong fastball, curveball and changeup.
“Andrew is a great player and always comes with the right mindset to attack the zone,” said Gavin Vallez, a junior who has caught every single pitch since the beginning of his freshman season. “He always throws the right pitches at the right times.”
Said Brotherton: “Andrew has pitched a lot of innings for us and knows what to do.”
Vallez has been ultra reliable behind the plate, and like every catcher, plays a vital role in a team’s ability to gun down opposing would-be base stealers along with effectively communicating with the infielders to make sure everyone knows where to be positioned in different game situations.
Since Vallez has been the only player behind the dish for Live Oak since the 2016 season, Brotherton knows how valuable of a player Vallez is.
“We hope not,” Brotherton said when asked about the possibility of a backup getting in should Vallez not be able to play at any point in the season. “We have an emergency catcher, and our real backup was injured during football (season) this year, so we’re thin at the catching position. We have a good freshman catcher and a couple of juniors who could do the job, but we haven’t had anyone out there but him, which shows you what he means for us.”
Vallez and Justin Curl hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the seventh against Piedmont Hills, and Neumayer reached on an error to load the bases. However, any sliver of hope the Acorns had in making a comeback came to an end when the Pirates got the next batter to fly out to end the game.
“We showed good character by coming back at the end,” Brotherton said.
P.J. Rochon, a senior shortstop who hit .480 and slugged. .580 last season, along with center fielder Damon Rodriguez are two of the top returning starters and captains of this year’s team.
“P.J. and Damon are great guys, great teammates and even better people,” said Brotherton, who noted the team’s strong talent level in the entire program. “Ashton Green, a freshman, is very promising and has a lot of potential. He will be getting in there at some point on the mound and in the field.”
If Green does pitch, it’s likely Vallez will be catching. Knowing how demanding the catcher position is, Vallez said he works hard off the field to keep his stamina up. Vallez knows the great challenge that awaits the team; however, he feels the players are up for the challenge.
“I think the entire team will rise to the occasion this year,” he said. We’ve got a real good group of guys who have a good approach.”
Brotherton and Vallez are confident the top pitchers will be effective throughout the season.
“Justin and Jakob, whether they’re closing or starting, they know how to seal the deal or keep us in the game,” Vallez said. “They all have very good velocity and spot the ball really well. If they’re struggling to throw one of their pitches for strikes, they can go to the next pitch and be perfectly fine.”
