Vacaville Christian High baseball wants a happy sequel
May 22-Numerous Vacaville Christian High seniors spent time at Disneyland on Wednesday with the rest of the Class of 2026. However, it's 5151 Pacific Ave in Stockton that the school's baseball team hopes is the happiest place on Earth this Saturday.
For Falcons' head coach Clint Motta, he's hoping its the perfect sight to ride into the sunset.
The Falcons will be playing Turlock Christian in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 championship game at 1 p.m., its first game in nine days. Vacaville Christian has cruised in the postseason so far, winning two games by way of a shutout after a first-round bye.
"By finishing early our seniors were able to spend a lot of time doing end of the year stuff," Motta said. "But besides that it's been business as usual. We've been practicing every day and doing the little things to stay in shape. But at the end of the day these are kids being kids. They had some fun during the week and at times you just need some mental breaks."
After the top-seeded Falcons earned a first-round bye, the team defeated Millenium 8-0 before defeating Valley Christian in just two games of a best-of-three series (11-10, 15-5). However that last game was played nine days ago.
Plenty of time for the pitching staff to get some rest.
The Falcons have been led by the combination of Dylan Eddings, Jack Kimball and Wyatt Hedlund on the mound. The trio combined for a shutout against Millenium, but then struggled in the first game against Valley Christian. In the second game the staff rebounded by allowing just three hits in a 15-5 win.
Motta said that Kimball will start on Saturday, but all hands will be on deck, including Eddings. Kimball has a team-leading 0.74 ERA, while Eddings has 231 career strikeouts at Vacaville Christian and a 3.00 ERA this season.
"We're going to start with Jack Kimball because he's dealt for us all year," Motta said. "The good thing for us is he's also a top-tier catcher, so he knows the strike zone very well. At the right time if we need to, we'll go with (Eddings). If there is one thing I know is that he's at his best when he can have control of the game, so we'll likely close with him."
However, Motta says there is another reason why the pitching has been stellar.
"The defense behind them," the coach said. "Look it's nice to know that you have a few aces that can go in and deal, but you still have to throw strikes and it's nice to know the defense behind you will make the plays when you do throw strikes. The emphasis with our team is always on our defense."
Eddings is also one of the Falcons' best hitters. He comes into Saturday's game with a .544 average, a team-leading 24 RBI and on base percentage of .622. Hedlund has slugged a team-leading four home runs, while Zachary Romeo has an average of .446. Isaac Stanley had 23 RBI.
If this year's season looks like a carbon copy of last year, you aren't going crazy. Last year the Falcons defeated Valley Christian in the semifinals to make the title game against Turlock Christian. Vacaville won that game last year 13-2, but Botta doesn't want this year's team to get overconfident. With that said, he does feel this year's team is better than last year's squad.
"Last year we actually thought would be a little bit of a rebuilding year because we only had two seniors," Motta said. "But this year we are very senior heavy. Yes we lost two really good players after last season, but we gained four more very good players. I also think because we were in the championship last year, nothing is new to us this season and we kind of know what to expect when we play on Saturday."
Motta also thinks that while last year's team had a ton of talent, this Falcons' team has more depth.
"The thing with our squad is that the players in the bottom half of our lineup, don't seem to know they are in the bottom half of our lineup," the coach said, with a laugh. "A lot of times our rallies begin with players in the 7,8 and 9 spots. Every single player in the lineup can get the bunt down and also knows the strike zone very well."
No matter what, Motta says that Saturday's lineup will be the last one he ever fills out. The coach of a decade with the Falcons has announced that this is his last season and that Tim Lindsey will replace him next year. Lindsey was inducted into the Vacaville Christian Sports Hall of Fame last year.
"It's going to be a happy/sad moment," Motta said. "But yeah, it's time for me to finally hang it up. My boys are 22 and 19 and I want to see them grow up. But we've done something nice we're the team can pass to torch over to Tim, who is a wonderful replacement."
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