Devil junior varsity baseball season in full swing

The Davis High junior varsity baseball team has gone 2-4 overall to start the season, opening the campaign with a resounding 20-2, mercy-rule-shortened win over Woodland earlier this month.

Here’s a look back at the season to date:

Davis 20, Woodland 2 — Strong pitching by Andrew Grindall and Brendan Pohl kept the Wolves off balance on March 1, while Drew Gnos and Grindall paced the Blue Devil offense.

Davis 8, Vacaville 7 — The visiting Bulldogs fell on March 5 as Walter Bolle threw four solid innings and Pohl picked up the save.

Grindall’s bat led the way, aided by huge hits from Quentin McCray (triple) and Ben D’Angelo (double). The Devils led for the whole game, but Vacaville made it a nail-biter in the final inning, loading the bases while trailing by a single run.

Yuba City 10, Davis 7 — On the road, the Blue Devils’ fortunes took a turn for the worse under the lights against the Honkers on March 8.

Although DHS outhit its hosts, 9-5, the game was marred by numerous walks, hit batters and errors.

Strong showings by the Gnos, Nate Curtis and Jared McNece were Devil bright spots as each had two hits and two runs scored. McNece also put on quite a show with dramatic catches in left field. Dustin Tillman pitched a satisfying three-up, three-down final inning.

Napa 9, Davis 7 — March 12 brought another frustrating Blue Devil loss as DHS outhit Napa, 9-7, but stranded nine runners and committed multiple fielding errors.

Pitcher Bolle had another solid outing, allowing only three hits and two unearned runs in four innings. Andrew Bolich, McCray and Grindall combined for a beautiful double play, but not before damage had been done.

On the offensive side, Gnos was his usual dependable self, with a single, double and triple, while D’Angelo doubled and tripled. McCray, Curtis, NcNece and new addition freshman Solomon Biers-Ariel also contributed hits for DHS.

Rocklin 7, Davis 3 — The Thunder came to town Friday, keeping the Devils’ bats relatively quiet with the exception of Gnos and Biers-Ariel. Each had a double and single and Bolich added a double, but that was all DHS would get.

Grindall’s pitching — which was backed by solid defensive work — kept Rocklin quiet for three innings, but the Thunder exploded for five runs in the fourth inning.

Even with Blue Devil pitcher Kyle England holding Rocklin scoreless (four strikeouts) for the final two innings, DHS couldn’t pull off the comeback.

Vintage 4, Davis 2 — The Blue Devils traveled to Napa on Saturday, dropping a tight game to the Crushers.

Pitcher Ian O’Connor threw 3 2/3 strong innings, allowing four runs (two earned).  D’Angelo kept Vintage scoreless over the next 2 1/3 innings with help from a great double play started by Pohl, but the Blue Devils could manage no more runs against Crusher standout Matt McLeod, who pitched a complete game.

The only hits McLeod allowed were singles by Gnos, Grindall and McCray, along with a double by Curtis.