Bret Harte lost to Amador 9-3 on Wednesday in Angels Camp. Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterpirse
The good news is that no matter what happens the rest of the way, the Bret Harte High School baseball team clinched a playoff spot for the second year in a row.
The bad news is that the Bullfrogs might enter the playoffs having either lost two of their last three games, or even worse, enter the postseason on a three-game losing streak.
After having their four-game winning streak snapped on April 28 by the Summerville Bears, the Bullfrogs lost again on their home field, this time 9-3 to the Amador Buffaloes on Wednesday afternoon in Angels Camp. Bret Harte finishes the regular season on the road against Calaveras, who just happens to be a team that the Bullfrogs have not defeated since 2019 and never under head coach Josh Bailey.
Bret Harte senior Carston Weidmann, 6, bumps fists with senior Ezra Radabaugh after recording an RBI. Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterpirse
Wednesday’s game wasn’t one that Bret Harte needed to win in order to keep its playoff dreams alive, but it was a game that would have given the Bullfrogs a series victory over Amador and perhaps been something else positive to build off of before the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoffs begin.
“Circumstantially, today was a rough one to swallow,” Bailey said. “We put our stopper on the mound in Jack (Trent) and we thought we would use today as more of an opportunity to build for him going into the playoffs. He didn’t quite have his best stuff and Amador brought their A-game. We kind of dug ourselves into a hole early that we couldn’t quite climb out of.”
Before a pitch was thrown, Bret Harte honored the senior quartet of Tony Honorato, Dylan Knick, Ezra Radabaugh and Carston Weidmann for senior day. And while he would have liked to have seen his seniors have a more memorable outcome, Bailey had nothing but compliments about his oldest players following the game.
Bret Harte senior Tony Honorato had one RBI in a 9-3 loss to Amador. Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise
“(Because of COVID-19) This group of seniors didn’t have a JV team their freshman year and these guys didn’t really get an opportunity to play baseball for four years at this high school,” Bailey said. “These guys mean a lot. Dylan Knick, Carston Weidmann, Tony Honorato and Ezra Radabaugh are four great young men who have really blossomed into who they are as people. I really appreciate having the opportunity to coach them over the last three years.”
Bret Harte struck first on the scoreboard by plating one in the bottom of the opening frame. Junior shortstop Walker Maurer scored on a sacrifice fly by Weidmann to put the Bullfrogs up 1-0. Momentum shifted in the top of the second, as Amador scored three runs on a two-out double that cleared the bases. The Buffaloes then scored three times in the third and two more in the fourth to push their lead to 9-1.
The Bullfrogs scored once in the fifth with an RBI from Honorato to plate freshman Sawyer Maurer and once more in the sixth with an Amador throwing error, which allowed junior second baseman Trey Jarnagan to touch home. Bret Harte finished the game with three runs on six hits with three doubles and drew three walks.
Junior Walker Maurer throws across the diamond for an out. Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise
Jarnagan went 2 for 3 with a double and scored a run; Trent went 1 for 4 with a double; Honorato went 1 for 2 with an RBI; Sawyer Maurer went 1 for 3 with a double and scored a run; Radabaugh went 1 for 3; Walker Maurer walked twice and scored one run; and Weidmann had one RBI.
Trent took the loss, going two innings and giving up six runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Sawyer Maurer pitched two innings and gave up three runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts. And sophomore Wyatt Skrobecky went three innings and allowed one hit and no runs with three strikeouts.
Sophomore Bullfrog Wyatt Skrobecky pitched three innings and didn’t allow a run. Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise
With one game left to play, the Bullfrogs will enter the D6 playoffs as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the Mother Lode League. The first round is a one-and-done and the second round is a best-of-three series. The section championship game is also a one-and-done afternoon.
“What’s really nice about the playoffs is that everyone goes in 0-0,” Bailey said. “Everybody has an opportunity to win three or four games and solidify who they were as a team. We are still trying to find that a little bit. I think Friday will be a chance for us to hopefully take a step forward in the right direction in regard to figuring out who we are and what we are going to bring to the table next week. Hopefully, we’ll just let it fly.”
To view and purchase pictures from Bret Harte vs. Amador, click the link below.
calaverasenterprise.smugmug.com/2023-5-3-Bret-Harte-Baseball-vs-Amador
Bret Harte vs. Amador
Amador 9, Bret Harte 3
Ama – 0, 3, 4, 2, 0, 0, 0 – 9
BH – 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0 – 3
Bret Harte Individual Statistics
Runs – S. Maurer, 1; Jarnagan, 1; W. Maurer, 1
Hits – Jarnagan, 2; S. Maurer, 1; Trent, 1; Honorato, 1; Radabaugh, 1
RBIs – Weidmann, 1; Honorato, 1
Doubles – S. Maurer, 1; Jarnagan, 1; Trent, 1
Triples – None
Home runs – None
Walks – W. Maurer, 2; W. Skrobecky, 1
HBP – None
Steals – None
Pitching
Trent (L), 2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
S. Maurer, 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
W. Skrobecky, 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Bret Harte Baseball Schedule
March 2 at Franklin (L) 7-1
March 8 at Escalon (L) 8-4
March at Linden (L) 5-3
March 25 vs. Summerville (W) 11-1
March 30 at Venture Academy (L) 5-3
March 31 at Amador (L) 13-1
April 1 at Sonora (W) 4-1
April 3 vs. Argonaut (L) 9-5
April 4 at Calaveras (L) 15-5
April 6 vs. Calaveras (L) 6-0
April 11 vs. Argonaut (L) 5-0
April 14 at Argonaut (L) 11-1
April 18 vs. Sonora (W) 4-3 (8)
April 21 at Sonora (W) 3-0
April 24 vs. Amador (W) 7-2
April 25 at Summerville (W) 10-6
April 28 vs. Summerville (L) 8-6
May 3 vs. Amador (L) 9-3
May 5 at Calaveras, 4 p.m.
Mother Lode League Standings
Calaveras 15-6 (12-2)
Argonaut 13-4 (11-3)
Bret Harte 6-12 (6-8)
Sonora 6-10 (6-8)
Summerville 5-11 (5-9)
Amador 7-16 (2-12)
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