- The Gauchos baseball team has reached the section finals for the first time in ten years.
- El Capitan defeated Manteca High in five innings after a six-run fifth inning invoked the mercy rule.
- #7 El Capitan will battle #1 Rio Americano High for the section title on May 20.
El Capitan’s baseball team hosted Manteca High School in the second game of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals on May 14. The El Capitan Gauchos won the first game in the best of three series by a score of 3-0. With a win, the Gauchos stood ready to advance to their first section final since 2016.
The scoring for the Gauchos picked up in the second inning when Benny Centeno hit a center-field single with two runners on to earn his team their first two runs of the game. As the game progressed, El Capitan added two more runs in the third inning with three straight singles from the top of their order. By the end of the third inning the Gauchos had a comfortable 4-0 lead.
On defense, the Gauchos were just as sharp. They retired the first three hitters to start the game before a single by Brixton Menchaca-Ortiz got the Buffaloes their first and only baserunner of the game. Centeno struck out the next three batters in the second inning before retiring the next nine batters in order.
With two outs and two on in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Gauchos busted the game open after an error by Manteca’s second baseman allowed the Gauchos to build a 6-0 and keep the inning alive. The next hitter, Benny Centeno came through for the Gauchos again with a single that drove in two runs, making the score 8-0. And just like that, the Gauchos were two runs away from ending the game by mercy rule. Another single and another error made the score 9-0. Still with two outs and two runners on, Angel Rivera slammed the door shut with a single to center field that scored Cooper Gaoiran and Zach Hunter. At that point, the umpire called the game due to the 11-0 deficit.
The Gauchos dominated the game in all aspects totaling nine hits while allowing Manteca just one. Benny Centeno led the way both at the plate and on the hill. Centeno batted 2-2 with 4 RBIs and a run scored. On the hill, Centeno pitched five shutout innings of one hit baseball with four strikeouts and no walks. Angel Rivera also came through offensively for the Gauchos, going 2-4 with 3 RBIs, alongside Cooper Gaoiran, who had a total of 2 hits and 2 runs scored.
Shortly after the game, pitcher Benny Centeno spoke about his success in the game, “I was trusting my teammates behind me; I had all faith in them. Whenever each ball was hit, I knew it was going to get out.” Centeno also discussed his approach, “My approach was just to hammer them inside and keep them off balance with the speed, mixing and matching between slider, curveballs.”
The El Capitan boys will move on to the finals against Rio Americano where they will play for the 2026 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 3 Championship. The game will be at Sac City College in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday, May 20th, at 6 p.m.
- Photos by Yoanna Morales. ↩︎
