Baseball: Clayton Valley Firing on All Cylinders

The baseball team has one of the filthiest pitching staffs in the North Coast Section.

As a group, they've allowed only 16 runs in 14 contests. The club has just one loss, which came against Division-II powerhouse (who knocked the Eagles out of the NCS semifinals last season), and that was before Clayton Valley's bats came alive.

One game away from the halfway point in the league season, the Eagles, who won the section title in 2009, again look like a front-runner in the hunt for a North Coast Section title.

On Thursday night, playing against Diablo Valley Athletic League foe Berean Christian, the Eagles banged out 26 runs. Since their loss to Alameda, Clayton has scored 82 runs over the course of their seven game winning-streak. Coach Bob Ralston attributes their recent success to a renewed discipline at the plate.

“We are on the right track at 11-1-2 and we are starting to swing the bat much better,” he said, noting that the pitching has been consistent all season. “We are staying on top of the ball and making solid contact. We are limiting our strikeouts and striking out less than we did early on.”

Pitcher and shortstop Chaz Meadows is the Eagles ace and has yet to give up a single run in 33-plus innings and has allowed only 28 base runners, while striking out 36. Meadows is committed to play for Long Beach State and is on pace to top 30 wins in his high-school career. He won 24 games in his first two varsity campaigns and has racked up five wins in 2011.

“(Meadows) has been outstanding for us,” said Ralston. “We are hoping he continues to pitch as well as he has. Every time he takes the mound it seems we have a very good chance to win.

“He attacks the zone and throws strikes. His fastball has late-life on it and really sneaks up on hitters.”

While the Eagles dropped their grudge-match game against Alameda, they recorded an impressive, early season, 4-1 victory over last year's section champ, Campolindo. Ralston noted that all of the Cougars' players from last year's championship team returned.

“We will have our hands full, down the road, with those two teams (Campolindo and Alameda),” Ralston said. “Those are probably the two teams favored to win our section. But we feel we have an opportunity (given our record) to get back to the finals. When we play our game, we feel like we can beat anybody. We are very confident that we will have the opportunity to be there in the end.”

If Meadows is considered the No. 1 starter, junior southpaw Domenic Mazza has to be considered 1-A. In seven starts this season, he carries a 3-1 record with a 1.60 ERA and 44 punch outs.

“Mazza commands both sides of the plate and definitely gives you a chance to win,” Ralston said.

Centerfielder and third basemen Jordan Burger has been a spark to the offense. He's hitting .431 after an early season slump. He has 20 runs to go with 17 batted in, four doubles, three triples and one home run. Burger also leads the team in steals, with 10.

Since March 29, the offense has been a well-oiled machine with all-around contributions from the likes of Matt Jacobsen (.579 BA, 2 HR, 12 RBI), Ryan Kroll (.540 OBP, 14 RBI), Jeff Doran (.640 OBP, 12 runs and 10 RBI) and Meadows (15 runs).

The Eagles’ carry a long-standing tradition of baseball greatness and have six alumni competing in college at the Division-I level and 15 players lacing up their spikes for colleges.

Meadows will be joining former Eagle great and current Long Beach State third baseman Johnny Bekakis in Southern California.

The Eagles also have produced two of the three starting outfielders for UC Berkeley — Vince Bruno and Darrel Matthews.

The Clayton Valley juggernaut also has a few current pros, with Matt and Scott Gorgen () playing in the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals organizations.

A trip to the Oakland Coliseum and a section championship probably rests squarely on the production of the Eagles’ bats. As coach Ralston astutely pointed out, when players are making solid contact and hitting sharp ground balls, the team can outscore anyone.