JV/frosh roundup: Spring schedule under way for DHS understudies

The freshman baseball squad kicked off its 2013 season last week, going 1-1 in a couple of games that gave Davis High freshman coach David Watts much to be pleased about.

The first game at Vacaville last Tuesday was called for darkness — just as the Blue Devils had scored four in the top of the seventh inning. But because the sun went down and the Bulldogs couldn’t bat in the bottom of the frame, the game reverted to the sixth-inning score and DHS lost, 11-8.

The locals opened their first-ever high school game in decisive fashion as James Richardson, Peter Frame, Daniel Henrickson and Mason Shorts drilled balls to all corners of the outfield to set a feisty tone.

Alex Timmons and Glen Welch also ripped first-inning singles and Frame later added his second of the frame as each Devil got on base in the six-run inning. In the second inning, Gavin Cosgrave crushed a towering drive to deep center to score two more runs, giving Davis an 8-0 lead.

Blue Devil starting pitcher Soloman Biers-Ariel was solid, giving up three runs in three innings. Cosgrave, Henrickson and Jake Guerrero handled pitching duties over the last four frames.

After opening its lead, DHS went dormant for the next four innings before the rally that wasn’t in the seventh.

In that frame, Guerrero singled, then came home on Noah Riffle’s rap along the third-base line. Biers-Ariel and Frame went on to score on a combination of stolen bases and Vacaville errors. Christian Lien advanced Riffle to third on a sharp line drive to left, and Timmons brought him home on a mishandled grounder to short.

But down went the sun.

Last Friday, the freshmen hosted Yuba City at Playfields Park.

Davis starting pitcher Pierce Tujo was lights-out for four scoreless, hitless innings, allowing only three runners to get to second in a 5-4 win.

The Devils’ first of two scoring campaigns was in the second inning, which started with Welch’s fly ball to center and RBI singles by Dan Shuman (who drove in Welch) and Frame (who drove in Greg Rohnstock).

After the Honkers went ahead 3-2, Guerrero ignited a three-run, sixth-inning rally by reaching on an error. Josh Millenbach ripped a game-tying liner and Henrickson followed with an infield single. Ray Young plated Millenbach with the game’s hardest hit to left center field. Welch’s single up the middle brought Henrickson home and gave DHS a two-run lead going into the final inning.

Millenbach, who’d relieved Frame in the sixth, gave up only a single earned run in the seventh inning, which was not enough for Yuba City to overtake the Blue Devils.

Davis’ top hitters for the week were Timmons (3-for-5, two RBIs), Welch (4-for-7, two RBIs), Frame (4-for-8, double), Henrickson (3-for-8), Cosgrave (double,  two RBIs) and Young (double, two RBIs).

DHS JV girls soccer

Handling Rocklin and Del Oro, the Blue Devils were pitch-perfect last week.

The Thunder fell 4-1 last Tuesday in a home match that saw all the scoring in the second half.  Del Oro went down, 3-0, Thursday.

Against Rocklin, Katie Grahn set up the first DHS score with a penetrating ball down the right side. Winger Elsa Iverson fought to win the ball and delivered a fine cross that Makenna Rubinstein knocked in from close range.

Iverson delivered again a few minutes later when she battled to send a ball that was tapped by Grahn and finished by Bhavna Kodira. The Devils’ third goal came on a perfectly executed corner kick delivered by Melissa Teuber and headed home by a charging Hannah Thompson.

The Thunder got one goal back when they got behind the Davis defense on the right side, but Teuber and forward Alex Diaz combined for the final Blue Devil goal, with Teuber sending a corner that Diaz headed in with authority.

Against the Golden Eagles, DHS dominated play throughout the match, outshooting the Eagles, 32-4, and taking an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks. But the Devils could not find the back of the net until late in the first period when Rubinstein worked free on the left side and sent a hard cross across the face of the goal, where charging Diaz finished.

The locals went up 2-0 early in the second half when Hannah DeKnikker found Kodira open. Her rocket shot deflected off the keeper to a waiting Alexis Olmedo, who blasted home the shot from 10 yards out. Davis capped the scoring with another perfectly executed header goal off a corner kick, this time delivered by Kasey Carlson and headed home by Emily Torbert.

DHS JV boys golf

Garret Scott-Henley shot a 43 and Utkarsh Uppal, Clayton Webster and Keerut Dhesi carded 44s as the Blue Devils won their second match of the young season, 222-243, over Benicia.

Uppal, Scott-Henley and Webster all had birdies in their rounds and Tyler McGlone holed out with a 60-yard chip for a par. Quinn Foster (47) and Ryan Gloudenman (52) rounded out the Blue Devil competitors.

DHS JV boys lacrosse

The Blue Devils dropped a couple of contests last week beginning with a 14-3 loss at Monte Vista on Tuesday.

The first quarter saw six unanswered Monte Vista goals, but DHS fought back to win the second quarter, 3-2, with a goal apiece by Jake Hammond, Justin Reno and Josh Rix.

Strong Devil performances came from face-off artists Hammond (10-of-14) and Jackson Herget (4-of-6), who also claimed four groundballs, as did Hunter Harris. Undaunted by Monte Vista’s firepower, sophomore goalie Connor Spann’s big effort included five groundballs, two takeaways and a grand total of 16 saves.

Then Friday, Davis put out its strongest effort of the year in an 8-6 loss at Marin Catholic.

The two squads were well-matched, and played just over three 10-minute quarters due to fading daylight.

Sophomore Jed Arvin exemplified the Blue Devils’ confident start, scoring their first goal off his own rebound. Soon after, the team capitalized on its only man-up-situation of the game with a goal by freshman attacker Justin Reno off an Arvin assist. Arvin put in another goal and had an assist later in the game.

Multi-sport freshman Hammond made good use of his wrestling-team experience, winning 10-of-11 face-offs and vacuuming up six groundballs. Herget also was hungry for the ball and picked up four grounders. Additionally for DHS, sophomore midfielder Yared Haile returned from a knee injury to score for the first time season while freshmen Connor Amesbury and Tom Thornton also found the net.