Granada Baseball is Having a Season for the Ages
By Chris Jackson Thursday May 16, 2013
LIVERMORE-There’s a buzz going around the Bay Area, but it’s not
about the Golden State Warriors’ recent success in the playoffs, in fact, it’s
not about professional or college sports.
It’s about the Granada Matadors baseball team. The
Bay Area is known for great teams in all sports, but the baseball team at
Granada (Livermore) is a special team.
Ranked #2 in the country in Maxpreps’ Freeman Rankings, which
are the computer rankings that help determine the national champion, the
Matadors are 22-1 and 12-1 in league play after defeating Monte Vista 6-0 on
Wednesday and winning the outright East Bay Athletic League title, their first
time doing so since 1992.
After losing for the first time this season against
Cal last Wednesday, a 5-0 shutout at Granada, the Matadors knew that it was
just one loss, and baseball is the toughest sport to go undefeated in. That
loss didn’t take them out of the #2 national ranking.
The Matadors bounced back from that loss with an
8-4 win at De La Salle to complete the season sweep of the Spartans. But
that might not be the last time they play each other, because it wouldn’t
come as a surprise for those two teams to meet in the North Coast Section
Championship game.
With a star-studded outfield comprised of three big recruits: seniors Ryan Kirby (San Diego)
and Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) along with
junior right fielder Casey Soltis (Oregon), all three have already committed to
major Division 1 colleges, as stated next to their names. But they aren’t the
only players that will be playing at the next level for Granada.
Both starting pitchers, seniors Anthony Olmo and Jacob Payne, will be signing to colleges
later on this season, probably after the playoffs. 1st baseman Matt
Richards will likely be another play to sign somewhere at the next level along with catcher
Jordan Thrailkill and designated hitter Craig Woolson.
3rd Baseman Dan Whitney is likely another candidate to play college ball. That’s more than
half of their lineup that will most likely be playing at the next level.
The pitching staff for the Matadors is something else. Senior
Jacob Payne is 11-1 with a 0.30 ERA and Anthony Olmo is 10-0 with a 0.97 ERA.
Payne has four complete games, and three shutouts. Olmo has three complete games
and one shutout.
In the game Friday at De La Salle, an 8-4 win for Granada
completing the season sweep of the Spartans, Olmo threw 118 pitches and threw a
complete game. If you can throw 118 pitches in a game in high school, that shows
you can easily throw over 100 pitches in college. During their first meeting
with De La Sale this year, there were Atlanta Braves scouts in attendance
watching some of the Granada players.
One incredible stat that needs to be mentioned is that Granada
has outscored their opponents this season 165-27. Outscoring Bay Area opponents
that way is truly remarkable and the coach Corrigan Willis knows he has a
special team and so does the Livermore community.
Offensively, the Matadors are just as dominant as their
pitching. San Diego-bound left fielder Ryan Kirby is batting .403 with four
doubles, one triple and one homerun along with 21
RBI’s. Matt Richards is batting .384 with one homerun, three triples, three
doubles and he’s dominant on the bases with 13 stolen bases this season.
Third baseman Dan Whitney is batting
.373 and catcher Jordan Thrailkill has
a .368 average. Designated hitter Craig
Woolson is also dominant behind the
plate batting .352 and Oregon-bound Casey
Soltis has a .324 average with
two homeruns, and Granada has one more year with
him in the program as
Soltis is only a junior. He is a two-sport star, also
being one of their
biggest contributors on the football field.
A North Coast
Section title is the next title for the Matadors
to get their hands on.
They will be the number-one seed in the Division 1
playoffs, unless
something very unusual were to happen during the seeding
meeting. The NCS
championship won’t be played at the O.Co Coliseum this year due
to A’s home
games that weekend, but that won’t change the significance of the
championship. Granada knows they need to continue playing consistent and at a
high level and that their dreams of playing in the NCS Title game will come
true, and winning the title will come tru if they continue playing great baseball.
The Matadors’ regular season closes Friday at
Livermore, and we
will be there for our game of the week. The city of
Livermore has a rich
tradition of high school baseball. Just a few years
ago, Livermore was ranked
16th in the nation, now it’s Granada’s turn to be
nationally ranked,
and be ranked 2nd in the country. Cy Young winner Mark
Davis pitched
at Granada and multiple Cy Young winner Randy Johnson pitched
at Livermore. The
city of Livermore has the most Cy Young titles of any
other city and town in the
United States.
Special teams
like Granada’s baseball team don’t come around
every year. No Bay Area
baseball team has ever finished the season ranked #1 in
the country and
become the national champions, but when the NCS Playoffs are
over, since
baseball doesn’t go to state in California due to summer, Granada
would
like to win NCS and finish the season #1in the country and become the
national champions while going down as the best baseball team ever out of the
Bay Area and Northern California, and with the great group of players and
coaches they have, that is a realistic possibility.
LIVERMORE-There’s a buzz going around the Bay Area, but it’s not
about the Golden State Warriors’ recent success in the playoffs, in fact, it’s
not about professional or college sports.
It’s about the Granada Matadors baseball team. The
Bay Area is known for great teams in all sports, but the baseball team at
Granada (Livermore) is a special team.
Ranked #2 in the country in Maxpreps’ Freeman Rankings, which
are the computer rankings that help determine the national champion, the
Matadors are 22-1 and 12-1 in league play after defeating Monte Vista 6-0 on
Wednesday and winning the outright East Bay Athletic League title, their first
time doing so since 1992.
After losing for the first time this season against
Cal last Wednesday, a 5-0 shutout at Granada, the Matadors knew that it was
just one loss, and baseball is the toughest sport to go undefeated in. That
loss didn’t take them out of the #2 national ranking.
The Matadors bounced back from that loss with an
8-4 win at De La Salle to complete the season sweep of the Spartans. But
that might not be the last time they play each other, because it wouldn’t
come as a surprise for those two teams to meet in the North Coast Section
Championship game.
With a star-studded outfield comprised of three big recruits: seniors Ryan Kirby (San Diego)
and Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) along with
junior right fielder Casey Soltis (Oregon), all three have already committed to
major Division 1 colleges, as stated next to their names. But they aren’t the
only players that will be playing at the next level for Granada.
Both starting pitchers, seniors Anthony Olmo and Jacob Payne, will be signing to colleges
later on this season, probably after the playoffs. 1st baseman Matt
Richards will likely be another play to sign somewhere at the next level along with catcher
Jordan Thrailkill and designated hitter Craig Woolson.
3rd Baseman Dan Whitney is likely another candidate to play college ball. That’s more than
half of their lineup that will most likely be playing at the next level.
The pitching staff for the Matadors is something else. Senior
Jacob Payne is 11-1 with a 0.30 ERA and Anthony Olmo is 10-0 with a 0.97 ERA.
Payne has four complete games, and three shutouts. Olmo has three complete games
and one shutout.
In the game Friday at De La Salle, an 8-4 win for Granada
completing the season sweep of the Spartans, Olmo threw 118 pitches and threw a
complete game. If you can throw 118 pitches in a game in high school, that shows
you can easily throw over 100 pitches in college. During their first meeting
with De La Sale this year, there were Atlanta Braves scouts in attendance
watching some of the Granada players.
One incredible stat that needs to be mentioned is that Granada
has outscored their opponents this season 165-27. Outscoring Bay Area opponents
that way is truly remarkable and the coach Corrigan Willis knows he has a
special team and so does the Livermore community.
Offensively, the Matadors are just as dominant as their
pitching. San Diego-bound left fielder Ryan Kirby is batting .403 with four
doubles, one triple and one homerun along with 21
RBI’s. Matt Richards is batting .384 with one homerun, three triples, three
doubles and he’s dominant on the bases with 13 stolen bases this season.
Third baseman Dan Whitney is batting
.373 and catcher Jordan Thrailkill has
a .368 average. Designated hitter Craig
Woolson is also dominant behind the
plate batting .352 and Oregon-bound Casey
Soltis has a .324 average with
two homeruns, and Granada has one more year with
him in the program as
Soltis is only a junior. He is a two-sport star, also
being one of their
biggest contributors on the football field.
A North Coast
Section title is the next title for the Matadors
to get their hands on.
They will be the number-one seed in the Division 1
playoffs, unless
something very unusual were to happen during the seeding
meeting. The NCS
championship won’t be played at the O.Co Coliseum this year due
to A’s home
games that weekend, but that won’t change the significance of the
championship. Granada knows they need to continue playing consistent and at a
high level and that their dreams of playing in the NCS Title game will come
true, and winning the title will come tru if they continue playing great baseball.
The Matadors’ regular season closes Friday at
Livermore, and we
will be there for our game of the week. The city of
Livermore has a rich
tradition of high school baseball. Just a few years
ago, Livermore was ranked
16th in the nation, now it’s Granada’s turn to be
nationally ranked,
and be ranked 2nd in the country. Cy Young winner Mark
Davis pitched
at Granada and multiple Cy Young winner Randy Johnson pitched
at Livermore. The
city of Livermore has the most Cy Young titles of any
other city and town in the
United States.
Special teams
like Granada’s baseball team don’t come around
every year. No Bay Area
baseball team has ever finished the season ranked #1 in
the country and
become the national champions, but when the NCS Playoffs are
over, since
baseball doesn’t go to state in California due to summer, Granada
would
like to win NCS and finish the season #1in the country and become the
national champions while going down as the best baseball team ever out of the
Bay Area and Northern California, and with the great group of players and
coaches they have, that is a realistic possibility.
