Ripon Christian baseball finds its groove, overcomes slow start in playoff win
The key to the Ripon Christian High baseball team repeating as section champions, head coach John de Visser believes, is mental.
Some things have changed since the 2023 title-winning team: Three seniors who played more than 20 games and were among the top offensive producers graduated. They also moved up a division for this year’s playoffs, going from Division VII to D-VI.
But some things have also stayed the same: Four of their pitchers from last year with more than five appearances return, along with the team’s leader in batting average, runs, hits, RBI, doubles and home runs.
Now, they just have to put it all together.
“You gotta get the kids to refocus because … they thought we can just walk on the field and (win a championship) again,” de Visser said. “You gotta go through the process — the process has to be king. They see that this isn’t last year’s team. Every team has its identity. You have to find yours, but the thing that goes through all of them is to focus on process.”
After their second straight first-place finish in the Southern League, Ripon Christian earned a No. 4 seed in the D-VI bracket, drawing No. 5 Millennium of Tracy at home for their opening-round matchup.
After a slow start, the Knights found offense in the late innings, securing a 4-1 win to advance to next week’s best-of-three section semifinals.
The Knights have won six straight games entering the semis.
Arms are back
Pitching matters in the regular season, and even more in the playoffs.
While a number of defensive players are in the lineup playing new positions, pitchers Luke Crivello, Dustin Hoekstra and Josh Buffalow each have seen this stage before. All were in the regular pitching rotation last season and each saw action on the mound during the electric postseason run. Each also has improved since last season.
De Visser handed Crivello the ball for the Knights’ playoff opener Wednesday. After giving up a leadoff walk and a run in the first inning, the Vanguard University commit paired with the Knights defense for six shutout innings. Crivello finished with 10 strikeouts.
“Our experience on the mound is really what’s going to make the difference if we were able to pull this thing off,” de Visser said.
The Knights scored most of their runs as a result of Falcons errors. Noah DeBruyn recorded the team’s only true RBI on a single in the bottom of the fourth inning, giving the team a 2-1 lead. They added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, capitalizing on a pair of wild pitches.
After playing two-game series during their Southern League season, the first two rounds of the Sac-Joaquin Section postseason are single elimination. Each team is at the point where every game could be its last.
“You’re just not used to sudden death,” de Visser said. “You get to the playoffs, now all of a sudden every pitch matters. That’s the thing, and you as a baseball player out there between the white lines, you have to be able to be comfortable with having that level of pressure. And then you have to be able to execute.”
Home field in the semifinals
The Knights were helped out by the No. 8 team in the D-VI bracket when Argonaut upset No. 1 Bear River 5-2 in the first round.
As the four seed, Ripon Christian will host the first game of the semifinals series on Monday and will travel to face the Mustangs in Jackson on Wednesday for Game 2. If necessary, Game 3 will be Friday at the Knights’ home field.
De Visser said that because the best-of-three series has been at a neutral site for a number of seasons, this year marks the first time the Knights will host two semifinals playoff games in his time as head coach. Last season, as the No. 4 in Division VII, Ripon Christian traveled to Woodland Christian twice.
Game 1 starts at 4 p.m.
“I’m pumped,” he said. “I want to see the kind of show up we’ve got. … I’m happy for these kids. They get to have their white unis on a couple of more times. It’s always nice playing in front of the home crowd.”
