May 12, 2025

As far as statements go, Hughson’s baseball made a loud one with its dominating performance in the first two rounds of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 playoffs.

The second-seeded Huskies sent a clear message to their rivals in the 16-team tournament with back-to-back shutouts at home against overmatched opponents – 15-0 against Ben Holt Prep Academy on Tuesday and 9-0 vs. Venture Academy on Thursday.

“We’re doing things right,” said Hughson Coach Charly Garza. “(Thursday), we didn’t have a lot of popouts. We told the kids we wanted line drives and that’s what they did. We bunted well and ran the bases well. The kids are peaking and they know it.”

Hughson (25-5) has now made it to the best-of-3 Division 5 semifinals four years in a row. The past two seasons, the Huskies were eliminated in heart-breaking fashion by Sutter. In 2022, they lost in the championship game to Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento.

This year’s semifinal opponent will be third-seeded Wheatland (17-8-1), which finished fourth in the competitive Pioneer Valley League. The Pirates reached the Division 5 semis with victories over two of Hughson’s Trans-Valley League rivals – Ripon and Hilmar.

“Wheatland plays in a tough league,” Garza said. “Their strength of schedule is higher than ours. They’re very battle-tested. Their pitchers face good hitters and their hitters face good pitchers.”

Hughson will host the first game of the semifinals on Monday at 4 p.m. Bryce McDaniel will take the mound for the Huskies. Game 2 will be played Wednesday at Wheatland with ace Max Mankins pitching for Hughson. Game 3, if necessary, will be in Hughson on Thursday.

The other semifinal matches top-seeded Lincoln (21-8) against No. 4 Woodland (23-4). The semifinal winners will meet the week of May 19 at a neutral site in a single game to decide the Section champion.

In Hughson’s rout of Ben Holt, McDaniel and Benji Ocegueda combined on a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in a contest called after five innings by the mercy rule. On offense, Carlos Guizar went 3-for-4 with two doubles and six runs batted in, while Andrew Fisher added two hits and scored three times. The Huskies scored two runs in the first inning, five more in the second and eight in the third.

In the win over Venture Academy, Mankins fired a complete-game two-hitter, notching 10 strikeouts with just 70 pitches in seven innings. McDaniel went 4-for-4 and Fisher had a home run and knocked in two runs.