Solano Community College – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Pink is new color for Mudcats

**Kyle Stafford is in his second season as head coach of the Mudcats.**

Kyle Stafford had never laid his eyes on a pink bat until Mason Sayre came home from Hawaii Pacific University and broke it out after joining the Solano Mudcats. The second-year head coach now sees it every day because the 2022 Will C. Wood High graduate is not the only player to swing it.

Preston Freeman has had so much success with the wooden bat that he hopes to buy it from Sayre before returning to Cisco (Texas) College. Stafford simply hopes the bat can survive with 26 games remaining in the season because it is being used so often by so many players.

“I know all the players are anxious about it,” Stafford said, “because they (are swinging) early on pitches so they won’t get jammed.”

**Will C. Wood graduate Mason Sayre shares his pink bat with teammates.**

Breaking bats is no concern for Stafford in the spring as the associate head coach at Solano Community College. The Falcons use aluminum or composite bats with the familiar ping. Players can only use wooden bats in summer collegiate leagues.

Freeman used his own bat in the sixth inning Saturday when he belted a two-run triple. Connor Ross followed with a two-run homer in a 9-2 win over the West Coast Kings. Ross had a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning last Tuesday to give the Mudcats a 7-6 win over the Kings.

The teams will meet four times this week with the first game Tuesday at 4 p.m. at San Ramon Valley High in Danvlille. The Mudcats will host the Kings at 5 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at SCC. The Mudcats are 2-1 in the new six-team Pacific Empire League and 5-3 overall.

Ross and Freeman have been fixtures in the Mudcats’ ever-changing lineup. Ross had a superb sophomore season at SCC, ranking fifth in the state with a .433 batting average. He was Player of the Year in the Bay Valley Conference, an all-state selection and the recipient of the CCCAA’s Northern California Big Stick Award.

Stafford used his coaching connections to recruit players from as far away as North Dakota, Iowa and Texas. He made a promise to all of his players that each would get a fair share of playing time. In return, he required each to put team goals ahead of personal objectives.

Introductions were made in the first practice. Stafford was surprised by how quickly the players meshed. “We’ve got a good group … a lot better than last year’s,” Stafford said. The Mudcats finished 6-29 in the California Collegiate Leageu and 4-33 overall in 2023.

Freeman was recruited by the Mudcats last fall when he was at the University of Texas-San Antonio. He was gone by the spring, opting to play at Cisco College. Injuries limited Freeman to 14 games and 21 at-bats. Playing for the Mudcats is an opportunity for Freeman to get back in the swing of things.

Contributing to the team’s success is Freeman’s priority. “I didn’t drive 26 hours from Texas to come here and lose,” he said. “Guys get close when you’re winning.”

And If Freeman can do his part by swinging a pink bat, so be it.

New home, league for Mudcats

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Solano Community College will be the new home for the Solano Mudcats and their 2024 home opener is Wednesday at 5 p.m. against the Nor Cal Warriors. Playing at SCC will be nothing new for the former and current Falcons on the 37-player roster for the Mudcats. The same goes for Mudcats head coach Kyle Stafford, who is the associate head coach at SCC.

**Kevin Parker will play with the Mudcats before going to Utah Valley** **University**.

Joseph Guttmann, Kevin Parker and Connor Ross will spend the summer with the Mudcats after leading SCC to a second-place finish in the Bay Valley Conference. Ross was the BVC Player of the Year and received the Northern California Big Stick award after hitting .433 with 58 RBI.

Ross kept the Falcons in contention for second place by belting a three-run homer in the 10th inning of a 10-7 victory over Napa Valley on April 23. The Falcons swept the three-game series against the Storm to climb past Marin, which was swept by BVC champion Los Medanos.

Guttmann went 0-for-4 in the series opener, but the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High graduate was an RBI machine after that. The sophomore drove in seven runs in a 19-0 rout April 24 and set a school record with 12 RBI as SCC closed the regular season with a 21-2 win. Guttmann had nearly as many RBI in those two games than he did in the other 39 (21)

Parker and Guttmann were first- and second-team selections, respectively, in the All-BVC voting. Parker will continue his career at Utah Valley and Ross will will be swinging his bat at Cal Baptist.

The Mudcats are in a new league after leaving the California Collegiate to join the Pacific Empire along with the Humboldt Crabs, Lincoln Potters, Healdsburg Prune Packers, Medford Rogues and West Coast Kings. The Mudcats finished last a year ago n the CCL North Division at 6-29.

— The Mudcats will hold a baseball camp for players ages 6-14 on June 10-12 at Vanden High. The cost is $60 per day and $175 for the entire camp. Players must bring their own equipment. Lunch is provided each day. Click here for further information.

Playoffs are more like reunion

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**Mateo Santos came within one out of a no-hitter in Solano’s 19-0 victory over Napa Valley last Thursday and earned his team-high seventh win** **this season.**

Scott Stover will see eight familiar faces on Friday when his Solano Community College baseball team travels to Folsom Lake for the first round of the Northern California regional playoffs. Folsom Lake has eight players from Solano County high schools and one of them, Austin Menesini, played at Solano in 2022.

Menesini is one of five former Vacaville High players at Folsom Lake. The others are his brother JJ, Konner McClellin, Bennie Dyer and Kyle Bender. They are joined by two Will C. Wood graduates, Kobe Rolling and Jarren Ford, and Darryl Dilworth from Vanden. Solano has 13 players from eight high schools in the county.

Recruiting is always a challenge for Stover because local players want to get away from home and believe other junior colleges have better baseball programs to offer. The best-of-three playoff series at Folsom Lake could very well determine whether Stover’s luck in attracting local talent will improve in years to come.

Stover is doing fine without those eight players this season. Solano finished second in the Bay Valley Conference at 16-5 and 26-13 in the regular season. Folsom Lake shared first place in the Big 8 Conference at 17-7 and is 26-14 overall.

**Sophomore** **Connor Ross ranks third in the state with a .434 batting average.**

Solano has not faced a Big 8 team this season. Folsom Lake split two games against Yuba, which finished fifth in the BVC at 8-13. Yuba avoided a three-game sweep against Solano by rallying for four runs in the ninth inning for an 8-7 victory on April 5. The last two runs scored on an error with two outs.

A three-game sweep of Laney got Solano back on track in time to face Marin in a showdown for second place in the BVC. The Mariners won two of three, but Solano came out of the series with optimism because Marin had to face Los Medanos in the final week of the regular season. The BVC-leading Mustangs swept the series to leave Solano in a need of a sweep against Napa Valley to finish second.

Napa Valley had an opportunity to play spoiler last Tuesday by overcoming a 6-0 deficit to take a 7-6 lead into the ninth inning at Solano. Miles Meadow tied it for Solano with a single to drive in Connor Ross, who then walked off Solano’s 10-7 victory by belting a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th.

An extra inning allowed Ross to avoid just his eighth hitless game of the season. The sophomore from Napa High is ranked third in the state with a .434 batting average and tied for seventh in RBI with 56. Folsom Lake’s Max Debiec is second in batting average at .469 and third in RBI with 64. The sophomore from O’Dea High in Seattle has hit 11 of Folsom Lake’s 38 homers. Ross leads Solano with seven.

Ross homered and had three RBI in each of the three games against Napa Valley. Solano rolled to the sweep with 19-0 and 21-2 routs in the last two games. Joseph Guttmann borrowed the spotlight from Ross in the third game last Friday by going 5-for-5 with two homers and a school-record 12 RBI.

Guttmann, a sophomore from St. Patrick-St. Vincent High in Vallejo, had seven RBI in the 19-0 win last Thursday to give him nearly as many RBI in two games (19) than he had in the first 36 (21). Guttmann is second to Ross in RBI on the team.

Marcos Santos came within one out of a no-hitter last Thursday. The sophomore from Bethel High in Vallejo is 7-2 to lead the team in victories. Freshman Peyton Czekalewski from Vintage High in Napa is 6-2 with a 2.13 ERA. Ryne Richard, a freshman from Armijo, started the series finale and earned his first victory of the season by allowing two runs in five innings.

SCC comes out swinging in win

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Miles Meadows (above) was tagged out on a steal attempt Thursday afternoon, but little else went wrong for Solano Community College in a 13-3 victory over Marin. The Falcons evened the three-game series against the Mariners with the rubber match on Friday in Kentfield.

Solano is 13-4 in the Bay Valley Conference and trails Marin by one game for second place. Los Medanos sits atop the conference at 14-2 with both losses coming against Solano. The Falcons will finish the regular season next week with a three-game series against Napa Valley. Solano will be the home team Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. and Friday at 1 p.m.

The Falcons scored five runs in the third inning and six in the fifth Thursday to make life much easier for Mateo Santos, who allowed two runs on eight hits and struck out eight in seven innings. The Bethel High product improved his record to 6-2 and moved into a tie with Peyton Czekalewski for the team lead in victories.

Solano designated hitter Connor Ross had three hits, including a two-run homer, The Napa High product ranks second in the BVC and fifth in the state with a .434 batting average. He also leads the Falcons in RBI with 47 and runs scored with 42.

Remarkable return to baseball

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Miles Meadows has no business starting in center field at Solano Community College. The 2022 Rodriguez High School graduate had not played baseball in seven years until he joined the Falcons. His teammates paid their dues for four years in high school for an opportunity to play at a junior college. Meadows has some nerve to think he belonged even though he had not swung a bat since he was 12 years old.

Meadows does belong, however. The freshman is batting .328 with three home runs, 22 RBI and a team-high 17 steals. There have been times when Meadows could not hide his inexperience. He has committed seven errors, four more than any other outfielder, and his baserunning needs a bit of work. Against Los Medanos on April 11, Meadows tagged at second base on a blooper that Mustangs second baseman Darrell Mays dropped just a few steps into the outfield. Even if Mays had caught the ball, there was no way Meadows could have made it to third.

At least Meadows made amends by stealing third and scoring on a single by Ryan Mitchell. That did not prevent third-base coach Brian Guinn from pulling Meadows aside to discuss the mistake and then jokingly call him a “freakin’ rookie.”

Head coach Scott Stover has been a bit more forgiving because he takes into consideration all that Meadows has done for the Falcons this season. The Falcons are 8-10 in the Bay Valley Conference and 14-21 overall with three games remaining. Stover would rather not think of how the Falcons would have fared without Meadows.

“We have guys who work hard and they can’t do what Miles does,” said Stover, who has to be counting his baseball blessings . “He’s a leader, he’s so positive and he’s our biggest cheerleader. It’s always been a team thing for him. He’s not selfish and he gets us going.”

There is much more to Meadows than his talent and spirit. Stover missed the April 11 game at Los Medanos when he was hospitalized with an illness. Only one player contacted Stover after the game to check on the coach’s condition. Do you want to guess who it was?

The call came from a young man who had his heart set on playing football as he did at Rodriguez until realizing he could not afford to commute to junior colleges in Sacramento and the Bay Area. And there were a number of junior colleges that were interested in Meadows’ services after he was the starting quarterback for two years at Rodriguez.

Stover is already looking forward to have Meadows return in 2024 and believes Meadows will have every opportunity to play baseball beyond Solano. “I’ve never talked to him about playing football,” Stover quipped, “because I don’t want to put it in his head.”

Meadows will not be going anywhere anytime soon. Playing at Solano has allowed his grandfather, Allan Brown, to attend games. Brown had a hand in raising his grandson, Meadows said, and continues to play a prominent role in Meadows’ life.

“I was not always the best kid. When I got in trouble, he always set me straight,” Meadows said. “I never want to disappoint him.” There is little chance of that ever happening because Meadows is driven to make the most of every opportunity to come his way.

His teammates would welcome Meadows even if he was not a starter and at the top of the Falcons’ batting order. They have come to count on the freshman to provide leadership and be the spark that ignites the team. “Some guys just have it,” said second baseman Victor Vega, who is the team captain. “The guys want to be around him.”

It took more than talent for Meadows to earn the respect of teammates who could have been envious of his emergence. They could have turn a deaf ear whenever Meadows stepped forward to address the team. They could have teased him after overhearing Meadows’ phone conversation with his girlfriend during which she called him “Pookie.”

To be honest, they do tease him. Meadows does not mind the ribbings because they are underlined with respect. “They see the work I put in. They respect the way I carry myself,” Meadows said. “When I say something, they know it’s coming from a good place.”

Meadows is in a good place. “I love these guys,” he said. “This is a perfect fit.”