In 20 games prior to last Thursday’s Sacramento Valley League match-up in Willows, the RedHawk baseball team had played just three one-run games and had come up short in two of them.
However, on April 18, in a head-to-head battle between two of the Northern Section’s top pitchers, Colusa’s Luke Kalfsbeek out-dueled his counterpart from Willows, Adrian Figueroa, as the RedHawks emerged with the 1-0 victory.
Both hurlers went the full seven innings in the contest, with Kalfsbeek yielding just a single hit and striking out 13, while Figueroa limited Colusa to just three hits, fanning nine in the process.
It was a battle that impressed RedHawk head coach Eric Lay, who praised both lefties for their efforts.
“A classic pitcher’s duel,” Lay said. “One of the best pitched games I’ve seen in our section in a while. Both kids really competed and made huge pitches in key spots. They both will pitch at the next level, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for each of them.”
In addition to getting it done with his arm, Kalfsbeek, a commit to the University of Washington, scored the game’s only run in the fourth inning, after drawing a leadoff walk.
With Kalfsbeek aboard and taking second on a wild pitch, Will McCoy stepped to the plate and delivered what proved to be the game-winner, when he singled to center against his former teammate, Figueroa.
A transfer from Willows, McCoy is hitting .358 with a .998 OPS and slugging at a rate of .453 this season for Colusa.
In addition to McCoy, Kalfsbeek and Joel Magallon accounted for the only other RedHawk hits in the game.
Last Thursday’s contest was a far cry from the first game of the series between the two teams last Tuesday, which saw Colusa 10-run the Honkers in five innings at home by a score of 12-2.
Magallon went 3 for 4 with a double and triple, Sutter Moss finished 2 for 3 with an RBI triple, while Kalfsbeek doubled and drove in a pair of runs to lead the RedHawks.
Bo Coronado went 3.2 innings on the mound, where he conceded a single hit and struck out four, before giving way to Seth Kalisuch, who closed out the game, striking out two.
In between the two games with Willows, Colusa traveled to Gridley to take on the Bulldogs, No. 1 ranked team in the Northern Section’s Division III.
Down three runs after four innings, the RedHawks needed some seventh inning heroics to pull off the 9-5 win.
Magallon, Moss, and Kalfsbeek were each a part of the seventh inning rally, recorded two hits apiece, while Adan Travis also had a pair of hits including a double.
Four pitchers, Landon Humphrey, Peyton Humphrey, Moss, and Kalfsbeek, combined to scatter nine hits, strikeout five, and surrender four earned runs.
Colusa (18-3, 8-1) squared off against non-conference opponent Mt. Shasta at Sutter Health Park on Monday, and then engaged in a series starting Tuesday with East Nicolaus that will determine control in the SVL.■
