Comets enter MWL slate with high hopes, No. 1 Class 5A baseball power ranking<\/p>\n
Crater has been making a trip to California off and on since 2007 for the annual Fresno Easter Classic, but Thursday marked the first time the Comets were able to pack the big trophy home with them to Central Point in 12 total appearances.<\/p>\n
The Comets wrapped up a 4-0 tournament run late Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory over Bullard High of Fresno, continuing what has been a terrific start to the season that has Crater sitting No. 1 in the Class 5A baseball rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not easy,\u201d said Crater head coach Jay Campbell of earning the Easter Classic title. \u201cThere\u2019s 36 teams in it, and it\u2019s really good baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately for Campbell, the Comets (7-1) are also playing really good baseball at this stage of the season.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s of no surprise to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of it has really been just the way that we practice and the mentality of the kids buying into each day getting better and being the best version of themselves,\u201d said Campbell, whose team\u2019s lone loss was a 6-5 setback to South Medford on March 25. \u201cThat\u2019s basically been our message all year long. It really started in the offseason in the weight room and with our workouts, and we really picked up the intensity and the discipline and the expectation, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re seeing some success right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The championship atmosphere of Wednesday\u2019s late game proved the Comets\u2019 mettle, with Crater rallying from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game against the host area team behind a two-run double by sophomore Michael Villarreal in the bottom of the fourth inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had plenty of chances where we could have kind of put our heads down and quit when things didn\u2019t go well,\u201d said Campbell, \u201cbut the kids stayed with the program and stayed together and I think that\u2019s what kind of got it done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only had 13 kids down here, and Bullard had 30 kids in the dugout and they had 15 coaches,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s just a different level down here, and for our kids to come down and just stay together and have each other\u2019s backs and compete is what really pushed us over the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freshman Carson Noce authored a \u201cgutsy pitching performance\u201d against Bullard, scattering five hits with only one earned run as he struck out four and walked three through six innings.<\/p>\n
Noce, who was named tournament MVP, allowed single runs in the second and fourth innings, and in neither case was he truly in trouble. Bullard was merely able to come up clutch with a pair of two-out balls put in play.<\/p>\n
An inning-ending double play with the bases loaded kept Crater from scoring in the second inning, but a leadoff single by Noce in the fourth inning that was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Cornett created another opportunity. Andrew Sweet followed with a single to put runners on the corners and, after a strikeout, No. 9 hitter Villarreal sent a shot to the left-center gap to make it 2-all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a different guy each time, and this time it was our young kids,\u201d said Campbell of an opening few weeks of success. \u201cCarson\u2019s a freshman and Michael\u2019s a sophomore, that kind of just pushed us over the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crater came up with confidence to produce a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth that was built as much on situational awareness and capitalizing on opportunities as much as anything. Cornett created a tough play for the Bullard shortstop on a one-out grounder, and the junior didn\u2019t hesitate to take second when the ensuing throw sailed high at first base.<\/p>\n
After a strikeout, sophomore Ronix Kezer kept Crater\u2019s hopes alive with a chopper that went over the pitcher and forced a charging effort by the shortstop. The ball ricocheted off his glove to an empty spot on the right side of the infield, and Campbell kept Cornett running on the play through third base for a 3-2 advantage.<\/p>\n
In the top of the seventh, Villarreal came on in relief of Noce and got some help from his defense after issuing a leadoff walk. The Comets were steady on a fielder\u2019s choice groundout to nab the lead runner, and Cornett retreated back a bit from shortstop for a pop fly for the second out.<\/p>\n
Bullard again put the tying run on base when a batter was hit by a pitch, but Villarreal closed the door by inducing a game-ending groundout.<\/p>\n
The Comets turned two double plays in the championship game \u2014 Crater\u2019s only other finals appearance came in 2014 \u2014 and came up with a host of steady defensive efforts in a tournament where the pitchers averaged about five strikeouts per game.<\/p>\n
Noce was the winning pitcher in two of the four outings, allowing two hits with six strikeouts in 3 \u2154 scoreless innings during his other appearance, an 11-0 win Monday over Sunnyside.<\/p>\n
To help solidify his MVP status, Noce also combined to go 6-for-10 with six runs, five RBIs and three walks drawn during the tourney.<\/p>\n
Senior pitcher Morgan Austin went the distance in Tuesday\u2019s first game for a 7-1 triumph over Justin Garza High of Fresno, allowing six hits and no earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts.<\/p>\n
The Comets used a committee approach in Tuesday\u2019s second game \u2014 15-9 win over Liberty High of Madera \u2014 where senior Alex Johnson closed the door with three scoreless innings with only one hit allowed to support a late scoring surge. Crater rallied with seven runs in the top of the sixth inning and tacked on another insurance run in the seventh.<\/p>\n
Zack Harrington, a junior, joined Cornett and Sweet in driving in two runs apiece against Liberty, while leadoff batter Mason Snopl scored three times and Austin, Cornett, Noce and Kezer each crossed twice.<\/p>\n
For the tournament, Snopl went 5-for-11 with six runs scored to set the table, while Austin went 5-for-10 with four runs and five RBIs, Cornett was 4-for-11 with five runs and four RBIs and Sweet was 3-for-9 with three runs and four RBIs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall our team depth is really good right now offensively and on the mound,\u201d said Campbell, \u201cand defensively we\u2019re very, very good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just like our balance overall,\u201d he added. \u201cWe actually have 11 kids that I think can be in the lineup at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of those same contributors helped lead Crater to an American Legion A state championship two summers ago, and the Comets were 32-2 heading into last year\u2019s event before coming up short.<\/p>\n
Last summer, Crater also enjoyed a pivotal moment by winning the Lions\u2019 Midnight Sun Matchup Tournament in Fairbanks, Alaska \u2014 posting a 5-0 record in a tourney that helped erase some of the bitterness of being eliminated by Alaska in the Northwest Regionals one year prior.<\/p>\n
So many of the same faces, extending their high school seasons with deep postseason runs over the past two years, has created a heightened level of confidence and camaraderie among the Comets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been coaching for a long time and this is one of the best team makeups of chemistry that I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d said Campbell. \u201cI think it does go to the fact that we\u2019ve played at state tournaments the last couple of years in the summer, and our trip to Alaska and now a trip down here in Fresno. I just think the bond that these guys have with each other is pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a bond that Crater hopes to lean on as Midwestern League play begins for the Comets on Tuesday at North Eugene, and as more eyeballs turn toward the south with that No. 1 state power ranking.<\/p>\n
Crater hasn\u2019t advanced out of the first round in either of the past two seasons, and last earned a state playoff victory when the Comets won the 5A title in 2018 after finishing runner-up in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had conversations with the kids about that,\u201d said Campbell of a potential target in the 5A ranks. \u201cWe\u2019ve been ranked No. 1 in the year multiple times, and I can think of two years where we were ranked No.1 in the state the whole year, and one of the years we ended up getting beat by Justin Herbert and Sheldon in the (6A state) quarterfinals in 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t change anything for us,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re just focused on the next day and getting better, and being the best version we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Comets enter MWL slate with high hopes, No. 1 Class 5A baseball power ranking Crater has been making…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-249718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}