Roundup: Saugus hands Hart first league loss, West Ranch shuts out Valencia
The Golden Valley Grizzlies baseball team is winless in the Foothill League no longer.
Traveling to Canyon High School on Wednesday, the Grizzlies got a strong start on the mound from junior Charlie Butts and some manufactured offense to beat the Canyon Cowboys, 5-3.
“We needed this,” said head coach Marc Kennedy of Golden Valley (5-8, 1-4). “I think last week we lost two games to Hart by more than 40 runs. You know, these kids, they wear the wins a lot, they wear the losses a lot. They’re emotional, they’re invested. So that was a tough pill to swallow, and it was hard for them to turn the page that quickly. We had a good first couple days of practice this week, and they came in with belief today. And with them, that’s half the battle.”
Golden Valley split the season series with Canyon (2-13, 0-5) last year but is now looking to get multiple league wins in a season for the first time since 2023.
Butts tossed 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday, scattering eight hits and a walk while allowing one earned run. The lanky pitcher said there was definitely some excitement in the team meeting after the win.
“There’s excitement in the dugout,” Butts said. “We all were excited about the win and everything. Everyone’s pumped up. And then we’re also looking forward to Friday as well, winning again, winning the next couple games, hopefully, to get our record back to .500.”
Senior Skylar Sears had two RBIs for Golden Valley and made a couple of key defensive plays at shortstop to help Butts on the mound. The first of those came way back in the first inning when Sears handled a short ground ball with a runner on third and got the third out to keep Canyon from scoring.
“I try to teach these kids that there’s no difference in pitch one and pitch 110,” Kennedy said. “Every pitch has equal importance throughout the course of a game, because you never know which one’s going to matter.”
Golden Valley got out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when sophomore Tyler Do singled, followed by sophomore Ayden Renstrom stealing third and then taking home on an errant throw.
Canyon responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to senior Henry Almaraz’s sacrifice fly, only to see the Cowboys put up three more runs in the fifth.
Butts doubled to start the fifth inning and then Renstrom drove him in with a bloop single that fell into no man’s land in shallow right field. An error then allowed Renstrom and senior Isaiah Reyes to score.
Canyon’s comeback attempt in the sixth inning was cut short by Renstrom, who relieved Butts on the mound and got five straight outs to finish the game.
“He’s a sophomore, young kid,” Kennedy said. “Had some varsity experience last year, but he’s mature. He’s advanced mentally for his age, so we feel pretty good giving him the ball in a spot like that.”
Canyon junior Brody Bayliss struck out three and allowed two earned runs on five hits over five innings. Senior Levi Shickle and junior Henry Almaraz each had two hits and an RBI while sophomore Ryder Brown had two hits and junior Matthew Jimenez had a double.
The Cowboys had their opportunities to score more, but a few hard-hit balls found leather instead of grass. Canyon head coach Zack Newman said it was nice to see some good at-bats after watching his team slump a little in recent games.
“It’s a huge improvement for us,” Newman said. “For the last couple games, we’ve kind of been in a little slump. But today was actually — I’m optimistic about Friday if we just keep those bats alive.”
The two teams are set to meet again on Friday, but at Golden Valley High School.
Here’s what else happened Tuesday and Wednesday in this week’s Foothill League action. Saugus and Hart were scheduled to wrap up their two-game series this week on Thursday instead of Friday:
Saugus 8, Hart 2: The Saugus Centurions (11-6, 4-3) handed the Hart Hawks (8-7, 3-1) their first league loss of the season at Saugus High School on Tuesday, 8-2.
Four runs in the first inning got the Centurions on track, followed by four more insurance runs in the third inning.
Matthew Carta and Jake Kaplan each hit a home run for Saugus. Carta hit a three-run homer in the first and Kaplan hit a grand slam in the third.
Lincoln Daly had two hits and two RBIs for Hart.
Kaleb Haag struck out two and allowed no earned runs on six hits and a walk over six innings pitched to get the win for Saugus.
West Ranch 12, Valencia 0: The West Ranch Wildcats (11-6, 6-1) are officially in first place after beating the visiting Valencia Vikings (5-8, 2-4) on Wednesday, 12-0.
Ty Diaz had four hits, including a double, scored three runs and drove in three to lead West Ranch. Caydin Wilson and Omar Gutierrez each added two hits. Wilson scored three times and Gutierrez drove in two runs.
Hunter Manning tossed a complete game for West Ranch, allowing just two hits and one walk while recording 16 of his 21 outs via strikeouts.
