Pitching and Defense Lead Cougar Baseball Team

The High varsity baseball team appropriately has plenty of San Francisco Giants fans — fitting because the Cougars pride themselves on playing a similar style to the World Series champs.

"Pitching and defense is how we've been winning," says Rancho head coach John Morrow.

The Cougars enter an important week of North Bay League play at 4-0 in league and 7-4-2 overall. All the rain played havoc with the early schedule, not to mention ever getting onto the Rancho field for practice.

"We took a lot of ground balls on the turf football field and we have a batting cage, but nobody got to do much on the field," Morrow said.

Key league games include at Ukiah and at Cardinal Newman (also unbeaten in league) this week. Last season, Rancho got hot at the end of the season and wound up taking the NBL title and playing two games in the North Coast Section Division II playoffs.

"We play small ball," said Rancho shortstop Brent Gillespie, who made a couple of impressive defensive plays in a 3-1 win over Maria Carrillo, a game that was 0-0 until the sixth inning. The Cougars followed that game with a 1-0 win against Will C. Wood of Vacaville.

The Cougars own a solid .278 team batting average and a .393 on-base percentage, although the team is a little short on power hitters. Morrow, the father of Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Brandon Morrow, puts baserunners in motion and does plenty of hit-and-running to try and create runs.

The mandated use of a new less powerful metal bat has hampered some power hitters, and like Gillespie, has caused some high schoolers to switch to wood bats.

Top hitters so far for The Ranch include outfielder/pitcher Trevor Dodele (.444), center fielder/closer Steven De La O (.391), first baseman Casey Hes (.361 with a team high 12 RBIs) and catcher Ryan Haug (.320). Second baseman Tanner Goldman leads with 10 runs scored.

Pitching standouts are Andrew Martini (0.66 ERA in 21 innings, with 16 strikeouts and a .179 batting average against), Dodele (1.56 ERA in 18 innings and .203 average against), Tyler Sanders (3.91 ERA om 14 innings and 10 strikeouts) and Will Felton (2.93 ERA in 14 innings with a .242 average against).

Sanders was impressive in the win over Maria Carrillo. The senior, coming off minor arm surgery last fall, threw well and allowed just three hits over six shutout innings, striking out five and walking just one.

It has been a simple formula for winning, especially in league: "good pitching, good hitting, great defense with no errors in our last three games," says Morrow.

Morrow particularly likes the way his team's pitching is performing. None of his starters are overpowering, but all exhibit good location and attempt to keep batters off balance with their pitch selection. The latter tactic is helped by a changeup, which nearly every Cougar hurler sports.

"It's a pitch we focus on right from the start," Morrow said. "There are a number of grips for the players to try and it's easier on the arm (than breaking pitches). "I know talking to Brandon (an all-Empire pitcher at Rancho, who then played at Cal and was drafted in the first round by Seattle) he says if he'd have done anything differently it would have been to learn the changeup in high school. He threw a split-finger fastball and a lot of time it drops down in the dirt and is hard for the catcher to handle."

While Morrow knew the Cougars probably wouldn't be a team that muscled-up this season, he did expect to field a strong defensive squad. The infield can be airtight with Gillespie, Kevin Castillo at third, Goldman at second, Hes at first and Haug behind the plate.

In addition, De La O has good range in center and a shows a strong arm.

"Definitely," Gillespie says of his and the team's diligence to defense. He pitched until he was 10 and expects to play either short or third in college (he's leaning toward Santa Rosa JC, although Cal State Northridge could be in the mix).

Gillespie says the closeness of a team (just like the Giants last season) can't be overstated and there's an obvious bond between some of the Cougars. While Rohnert Park doesn't participate in Little League sanctioned youth baseball, it does have Cal Ripken ball and Gillespie, Martini, De La O and Sanders all played on the same all-star team that won a state tournament in Rohnert Park as 12-year-olds and finished third in a regional tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Gillespie, who is confident he can overcome a slow start at the plate, said he isn't surprised by the success of the Cougars or his teammates. And he notes, the team lost its numbers 1,2 and 5 hitters to graduation.

"I think we've been improving every game. (Without rain) we're getting more comfortable and everything is back to normal. Hitting-wise Gillespie admits he and some the other Cougars were pressing at season's start.

Surveying his team, Gillespie has been impressed with the pitching, particularly Martini and Sanders of late. He says Goldman is a solid player anywhere in the infield or the outfield, De La O has shown his speed first at the leadoff spot and now as the No. 3 hitter, Hes and Dodele have been the most consistent batters, the junior Castillo has been dazzling defensively and Haug may be the best sophomore catcher in the league. Hes is the son of pitching coach and longtime Crushers pitching coach Dolf Hes.

"I think Rancho baseball always prides itself on having good pitching and good defense," says Gillespie, a serious Giants fan, who lives baseball and has a 3.6 GPA. Gillespie is a rangy 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds and just has the look of a baseball player. 

Gillespie would love to follow in the footsteps of his cousin, Jake Kahaulelio, a Windsor High, SRJC and Oral Roberts product and shortstop, who plays for the Cincinnati Reds Double-A minor league team in North Carolina.

The Cougars have also showed their dexterity with a rake and a mower. Keeping the Rancho baseball diamond in playable shape hasn't been easy, but Morrow and his players have spent plenty of time working on the dirt infield.

"We've taken more control of the upkeep of the field over the years," Morrow says. "We'll spend three or four hours with players mowing and helping drag the infield. We spray for weeds and even have a couple players in charge of the basepaths. I believe it's the best grass field in Sonoma County."

As for the Giants, looking back on last season, Morrow seems to be describing his own team: "They didn't look that good on paper, but they got pitching and good defense and they were kind of a scrappy team. Plus they had good camraderie and a good clubhouse.  Good pitching always beats good hitting."