The varsity baseball team beat Sonoma Valley 1-0 at home behind senior pitcher Mason Collins and great defense on March 5.

Senior Jack Elias scored the only run for the Hawks after Collins hit a deep triple to left field to drive him in.

Collins also pitched a complete game shutout with six strikeouts.  “My pitches were on. I dedicated to the pitch calling,” Collins said.

Senior Kiefer Dickson made two great catches to help preserve Collins’s shutout. Dickson caught a ball high in the air between first and second base in the fifth inning and then came back with a shoe-string catch in the sixth.

This is Collins’ third year on varsity. He was moved up when he was just a sophomore.

Sophomore Jack Harris may be on a similar path. He is the youngest player on the team and is getting a lot of support from his coach and teammates. Coach Scott Osder said Harris can handle the challenge of varsity.

“Young guys [usually] rattle under pressure, and he doesn’t,” Osder said.

The team is looking good this year with their ten returning seniors. “We have ten guys returning from our championship team last season,” Osder said.

The Hawks, currently 4-0, have not yet played an MCAL team.  Their next preseason game is Wednesday, March 11 at home against Eureka High School.