By Paul Gabois

E.J. Stanton fired a complete game for his first victory of the season Monday night, leading the Red Bluff varsity baseball team to a 8-2 victory over Rosemont in the Woodland Tournament opener. Stanton gave up two earned runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out five, and was one of three Spartans to go 2-for-3 at the plate.
Red Bluff scored once in the first inning and piled up six more in the third, which was more than enough cushion for Stanton. Josh Penne and Lucas Sandow hit back-to-back singles in the first, setting up Simon Villalvazo's sacrifice fly.

Sacramento-based Rosemont retaliated in the bottom half to knot the score at 1, but the Spartans batted around in the third inning to jump ahead 7-1.
Leadoff hitter Daniel Zelwick singled to start the rally, Penne walked and back-to-back RBI singles by Sandow and Villalvazo began an impressive streak. By the time the dust cleared, six runs poured in and 10 consecutive Spartans had reached base. After Sandow was caught stealing, Villalvazo was aboard with one out, and Cody Gappa and Jeremy Altman both hit singles to load the bases. Lance Zazueta drew a walk to force in Villalvazo's courtesy runner, Tyler Brown, and Josh Thompson drilled a two-run single. Stephen Collins walked to load the bases again and Zelwick drove in another run via base on balls. A comebacker to the mound resulted in a home-to-first double play that finally killed Red Bluff's rally.

Red Bluff added another run in the fifth, as Altman singled, Robby Annis ripped a double and Thompson walked to load the bases. Collins knocked in Altman with a fielder's choice.
The Spartans defense turned a pair of double plays — Collins to Zelwick to Zazueta on the infield (4-6-3) and a line drive back to the mound that Stanton flipped to Annis at first for two.

Red Bluff 106 010 0 — 8 11 0
Rosemont 100 010 0 — 2 7 0

RED BLUFF IP H R ER BB SO
Stanton (W, 1-0) 7 7 2 2 1 5

Top hitters:
Zelwick 1X3, RBI, R; Penne 1X3, SB, 2 R; Sandow 2X3, SB, RBI; Villalvazo 1X3, SF, 2 RBI; Gappa 1X3, R; Altman 2X3, 2 R: Annis 1X1, 2B; Thompson 2X3, 2B, 2 RBI

Cody Gappa tossed five shutout innings and Simon Villalvazo closed in the Red Bluff varsity baseball team's 9-1 rout of River Valley on Monday in the Woodland Tournament.
The Spartans scored in the second and third innings, then the floodgates flew open with a five-run fifth inning to give Gappa more than enough run support to earn his third pitching victory.
Josh Penne tripled and scored on a wild pitch to put Red Bluff on the board in the third inning, and Josh Thompson walked and scored in the fourth on Ben Redfield's bases-loaded free pass.
The Spartans' bats heated up to generate runs in the fifth, however, starting with a leadoff single from Penne. Lucas Sandow drew a walk and Simon Villalvazo doubled to give Red Bluff a 3-0 advantage. Thompson followed with a run-scoring single, Jeremy Altman singled and courtesy runner Jeff Watson was forced out at the plate on E.J. Stanton's fielder's choice. With one out, Robby Annis' two-bagger brought in two more runs and Stanton scored on a groundout by Redfield.
In the sixth, the Spartans added two more runs and brought in Villalvazo to protest Gappa's lead.
Pinch-hitter Tyler Brown singled to open the final rally. He took second on a passed ball, third on Watson's grounder to shortstop and pinch-hitter Stephen Collins came through with a solid single for a run batted in. Chris Jones, who entered the game for Altman, drew a walk to move Collins into scoring position and Stanton spanked a RBI single to extend Red Bluff's lead to 9-0.
River Valley scratched for an earned run in the seventh, despite not getting a hit, to avoid being shut out. Gappa allowed six hits, one walk and struck out four while Villalvazo worked two innings, walked two and struck out three.
A nice throw from Penne in right field prevented River Valley from scoring in the second inning, as a runner was pegged at third base trying to stretch a double into a triple. Second baseman Daniel Zelwick relayed the throw to Redfield for the assist and the following batter singled with two outs and no one on base.

River Valley 000 000 1 — 1 6 1
Red Bluff 001 152 x — 9 10 0

RED BLUFF IP H R ER BB SO
Gappa (W, 3-0) 5 6 0 0 1 4
Villalvazo 2 0 1 1 2 3

Top hitters:
Penne 2X4, 3B, 2 R; Brown 1X1, R; Thompson 1X2, RBI, 2 R: Altman 1X2, 2 SB, R; Annis 1X4, 2B, 2 RBI; Sandow 1X2, 3B, R; Villalvazo 1X3, 2B, RBI; Collins 1X1, RBI, R; Stanton 1X3, RBI, R

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Tuesday, March 18 - vs. Foothill of Sacramento (@Woodland Tournament)

Ben Redfield hurled a complete game on Tuesday to lead the Red Bluff varsity baseball team to a 6-1 victory over Foothill of Sacramento in the Woodland Tournament.
Redfield held Foothill to five hits and walked one while striking out six batters, picking up his third win of the season.
Red Bluff faced its first deficit of the tournament when Foothill scored in the top of the first, but the Spartans answered with two runs in both the first and second innings to jump ahead 4-1.
Daniel Zelwick led off the bottom of the first with a double, stole third and Josh Penne walked to put runners at the corners. Zelwick scored on a fielder's choice by Lucas Sandow, and Sandow wheeled around to third on a double by Simon Villalvazo to set up a potentially big inning. Cody Gappa brought Sandow in with a sacrifice fly, but the damage stopped there.
E.J. Stanton ripped a double to lead off the second inning, however, enabling the Spartans offense to pick up where it left off in the first. Robby Annis also doubled, driving home Stanton, and Stanton crossed on a passed ball.
While Redfield cruised on the mound, the Spartans kept on rolling offensively, with two more runs in the fifth.
Simon Villalvazo hit a double and courtesy runner Stephen Collins took third on an infield error, which enabled Cody Gappa to reach safely. Josh Thompson walked to load the bases and Stanton stroked a two-run single to plate the insurance runs.
Redfield was backed by a pair of double plays, one of which he initiated on a comebacker. After hitting a batter with one out in the seventh, Redfield smothered a ball hit up the middle, threw to Stanton at shortstop for the forceout and Robby Annis received the ensuing toss to end the game. In the fifth inning, Daniel Zelwick fielded a grounder at second base with a runner on first, and the ball was thrown to Stanton and then Annis to kill another potential Foothill rally.

Foothill (Sac.) 100 000 0 — 1 5 2
Red Bluff 220 020 x — 6 7 0

RED BLUFF IP H R ER BB SO
Redfield (W, 3-0) 7 5 1 1 1 6

Top hitters:
Zelwick 2X4, 2 2B, SB, R; Stanton 2X2, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R: Villalvazo 2X4, 2 2B, R; Annis 1X2, 2B, RBI, R

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Wednesday, March 19 - vs. Woodland (@Woodland Tournament)

In the Woodland Tournament championship Wednesday afternoon, the Spartans' defense faltered, leading to their first loss of the season as the hosts won the title game, 8-5.
Daniel Zelwick got the start and took his teammates into the fifth inning, allowing a pair of earned runs on seven hits along the way, but he exited with one out and trailing 7-3 as he was also stuck with five unearned runs.
Red Bluff's winning streak ended at nine games, but the Spartans almost rallied ahead in the sixth inning, where they scored twice and left the bases loaded. The go-ahead run was stranded on first base.
Simon Villalvazo and Chris Jones opened the sixth-inning rally with back-to-back singles. After a strikeout, Lance Zazueta smoked a run-scoring double and E.J. Stanton added a RBI single, closing the Spartans' gap to 7-5. Josh Penne drew a two-out walk to load the bases but the threat ended with the heart of the order coming up.
Red Bluff was hitless in the seventh, however, in its final chance to win the game.
The Spartans took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Daniel Zelwick, Penne and Lucas Sandow hammered back-to-back-to-back doubles.
In the fourth, Robby Annis was hit by a pitch with one out. He took second on a passed ball, third on a base hit by Stanton and home on a wild pitch.
Stephen Collins and Villalvazo combined to finish the game in relief, but the Spartans were unable to overcome Woodland's five unearned runs, which were caused by four errors in the first three innings.

Red Bluff 200 102 0 — 5 9 4
Woodland 122 021 x — 8 9 0

RED BLUFF IP H R ER BB SO
Zelwick (L, 0-1) 4.1 7 7 2 3 4
Collins 1.1 2 1 1 2 1
Villalvazo 0.1 0 0 0 0 0

Top hitters:
Zelwick 1X4, 2B, R; Penne 1X3, 2B, RBI, R: Sandow 1X4, 2B; Jones 1X1, R; Redfield 1X2, R; Zazueta 1X3, 2B, RBI; Stanton 3X3, 2B, SB, RBI