Everyone has an off day now and then, and such was the case for the RedHawk baseball team on Friday as some uncharacteristic miscues saw them need an extra frame to put away Winters 3-2 and keep their 15-game win streak alive.
While Colusa easily handled the Warriors in the first meeting between the two squads on March 29, posting an 8-1 win at home, it was a different story on the road.
Luckily for the RedHawks, their senior ace Ethan Lay was able to keep them in the game until they could scratch out the winning run.
In seven and two-thirds innings on the hill, Lay fanned eight, conceded just two hits and no earned runs, holding off the Warriors despite six errors behind him.
It was the longest outing of the season for Lay, who threw 112 pitches, before fellow senior Hunter Sines induced a ground out to put the game away.
In spite of the effort on the mound, Colusa still had some work to do at the plate to earn the win.
Finding themselves down 1-0 entering the top of the third, Nick Price, another of the team’s senior leaders, led off with a single, then stole second to put himself in scoring position.
One of the fastest players on the field, Price then capitalized on back-to-back errors by the Warriors to score the RedHawks’ first run.
Although Winters retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame, Colusa again pulled even in the top of the fourth, when Niko Silvas put the ball in play and reached on an error that allowed Lay to score from second.
That would be it for the RedHawks, until the top of the eighth, when Seth Kalisuch led off with a walk then stole second, bringing Silvas to the plate again.
When Silvas singled to short, Kalisuch advanced to third and was then able to score the winning run on an error by the Warriors’ catcher.
At the plate, Luke Kalfsbeek went 2 for 3, Silvas finished 2 for 4, while Price, Lay, Emanuel Frias and Joel Magallon each recorded a hit.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was still a win for Colusa, who sits atop both the Sacramento Valley League and Northern Section Division IV standings, and is ranked by MaxPreps No. 14 in the Sacramento Metro region.
In the home win last Tuesday, Kalfsbeek turned in a dominant performance on the mound fanning 10 and allowing just one hit in six innings of work, while Sines closed out the game with a scoreless seventh.
Six errors by the Warriors helped turn the game into a blowout, but the RedHawks got some timely hits as well.
Kalfsbeek ended the day 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, while Price was 1 for 3 with a double and Kalisuch added an RBI single.
Colusa faced off against rival Pierce this week, having been in Arbuckle on Tuesday, and will compete the season series with the Bears today at home.■