This is the easiest way to describe the Sierra College baseball season, 2008. Against long odds, the Wolverines competed in the toughest conference in California (7 of the 8 teams in the Big 8 Conference made the 16 team state playoffs). They also won three rounds of extremely competitive post-season tournaments to claim their first state championship in school history. This state championship is a direct connection to all the former Wolverine players. These players believed in our system. They played, executed, won games at a high percentage and finished their seasons as very successful Sierra College baseball players. Their hard work, ability and loyalty to the program built a foundation for the coaching staff to recruit outstanding student-athletes and ultimately claim a state championship. This accomplishment should and will be shared by all former Sierra baseball players.
The 2008 season got off to a booming start as the Wolverines raced out to a 22-3 record utilizing their very potent offense. The defense was outstanding and this group had tremendous team speed. The only question mark was the pitching. As the Big 8 Conference began, it would take pitching, defense, offense, team speed and a very cohesive group to qualify for the playoffs. The Big 8 Conference tests the toughest of teams and forces each team to endure very rough stretches throughout the season. Sierra was no exception as they embarked on their Easter trip to Southern California. They defeated Mt. San Antonio College 9-5 to begin the trip then fell to #1 ranked Fullerton JC by the score of 4-2. The next day they again fell by the score of 7-6 to #2 ranked Riverside. The Riverside game was filled with emotion as both teams emptied their dugouts on two very violent plays. Cool heads prevailed and only one Riverside player was ejected. Sierra finished the trip with a 1-2 record which pushed their overall record to 22-5 and they appeared poised to make a run at a championship. However, this is the Big 8 Conference and wins don’t come easy for a team not playing at a very high level. Sierra lost 4 straight conference games and was left wondering how a team who was just 22-3 could now be 4-7 in conference play. Neither the players nor coaches gave up, but times weren’t good in Rocklin during their 6 game losing streak. A superb pitching performance by new starting pitcher Cameron Ray got Sierra back in the winner’s column and ended the very difficult 6 game stretch. They went on to claim 2nd place in conference and earned the #4 seed in the state playoffs. The end of the regular season brought many individual awards to the Sierra players. Pitcher Cameron Ray was voted Big 8 Conference Pitcher of the Year. Outfielders Logan Lotti, Kyle Saukko and Brian Wright were all voted 1st Team All Big 8 Conference players. Infielders Ryan Stevens and Kyle Richardson were also voted 1st Team All Big 8. Pitcher Jeremy Cole and Shortstop Keith Jennette were voted 2nd Team All Big 8 Conference performers.
The playoffs proved to be very competitive as Skyline College of San Bruno pushed the Wolverines to an elimination game of the 3 game series which Sierra eventually won by the score of 4-2. Sierra traveled to Fresno for the Super Regional where they faced blistering heat as each game was played in temperatures hovering around 107 degrees. The Wolverines defeated Chabot College of Hayward in the first game by the score of 4-2. In the winner’s bracket Sierra defeated the Hawks of Cosumnes River for the 5th consecutive time in ‘08 by the score of 5-3. On Sunday in the championship game, Sierra again defeated Chabot, 6-3 with a 4-run rally in the 9th inning. The outstanding performer in the Super Regional was closer Josh Crockett. Crockett appeared in all 3 games and earned a save in each game. The victory earned Sierra a trip to the State Championship Final Four for the second time in the past three years.
Sierra opened the Final Four with a 6-3 victory against Southwestern College from Chula Vista. In the winners bracket they again faced Riverside College. This time the result was much different as two freshman pitchers limited hard hitting Riverside to only one run. Jeremy Cole pitched 5 solid innings to earn the win and left handed reliever Jesse Garcia was outstanding in throwing 4 scoreless innings of relief to earn the save. Sierra won the game by the score of 6-1. Sierra advanced to the state championship game and would have to be beaten twice. In the opener, the Wolverines fell by a 7-3 margin. In the state championship game, Sierra went to their ace, Cameron Ray and he delivered again. Sierra scored first on a 2-out single by Alex Anicich and a towering homerun to right field by 1B Ryan Steven for a 3-0 lead. They never looked back and won by the score of 6-2 as closer Josh Crockett worked the final 3 2/3 innings to earn the save. Ray won 4 games in the post-season including two in the State finals and was named the Final Four MVP. Ray and outfielder Logan Lotti who broke the school record for homeruns in a season (15) were voted to the JC All-American team for 2008. There was mention of many individuals above, but like each previous season at Sierra College, this was a TOTAL TEAM effort. We could not have accomplished what we did without each and every player on this team, no matter the amount of innings played or pitched. It was a dream season. Now, for the rest of their lives, all the players and coaches will be sporting championship rings that read “STATE CHAMPIONS”!
After a very successful 2007 season and a State Elite 8 appearance, the Wolverines will again set lofty goals. Sierra competes in the Powerful Big 8 Conference. The conference consists of eight perennial state playoff teams: American River, Cosumnes River, Diablo Valley, Modesto, Sacramento, San Joaquin Delta, Santa Rosa and Sierra. In 2007, five of the seven teams in the Big 7 Conference (prior to Modesto joining the conference in ‘08) made the playoffs. In the first round, ALL 5 teams won a best of three series and advanced to the Super Regional playoffs. 