While the RedHawk baseball team has outscored its opponents 40-1 since opening play on Feb. 24, the real story has been the pitching, which has recorded three shutouts, two no-hitters, and has not yielded an earned run.
Such dominance was on full display last week, as Colusa first downed Wheatland 11-0 on March 1, returned home the following day to thrash Lindhurst 20-0, then handed visiting Kelseyville a 5-1 loss on March 4.
In Wheatland, senior Ethan Lay no-hit the Pirates in the five-inning contest, striking out 12 of the 15 batters he faced and needing only 59 pitches to earn the win.
Sophomore Seth Kalisuch led the RedHawks at the plate, going 3 for 3 and scoring three runs, while senior Justin Lee finished with two hits and three RBI.
Against Lindhurst, sophomore Luke Kalfsbeek got the nod on the mound and struck out five over two innings, and was followed by Tyler Oliver, Hunter Sines, and Emanuel Frias, who each tossed an inning of relief, striking out two apiece.
Colusa roughed up the three Blazer pitchers for 17 hits, led by Frias, who went 3 for 4 with a double and three RBI.
Lee, Lay, Oliver, and Nick Price each ended the day with two hits in the lopsided win.
Facing Kelseyville in the most competitive game last week, Frias started on the hill, where he went three and two-thirds innings with six strikeouts, then helped his own cause by scoring two runs and registering two hits.
Oliver retired the one batter he was called upon to face, before giving way to Lay, who closed out the final three innings by striking out seven.
So far this season, Lay has recorded 33 strikeouts in 13 innings to lead the RedHawk staff, which, as a whole, has struck out 54 batters and scattered just three hits in 24 innings of work.
Colusa also got some productive plate appearances against the Knights, particularly in the fourth inning, when the RedHawks put three runs on the board.
Niko Silvas got things started with a leadoff single and was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Clay Randolph, bringing up Kalisuch, the team’s leading hitter, with a batting average of .700, who singled to center and stole second to put himself in scoring position.
Sines followed up with a ground out to plate Silvas, before Price delivered a two-out single to score Kalisuch, then crossed the plate himself after Lee reached on an error.
The RedHawks’ other two runs came courtesy of Kelseyville miscues, caused in part by Colusa’s ability to grind out at bats and run the bases aggressively.
Without question, it has been an impressive start and just what head coach Eric Lay hoped to see from his squad.
“We’re off to a great start,” Lay said. “Our pitchers have been outstanding and are setting the tempo by pounding the zone early and often. We’re working hard at practice on situational offensive and defensive situations and know we’ll improve hitting-wise as the season progresses. It’s a great group of kids to be around and coach. They respect each other and the game.”
Now 4-0, the RedHawks open their own Mike West Invitational Tournament today with a 9 AM game against Pierce, then square off against Los Molinos at 4:30 PM. ■