Bullfrogs drop three straight after 2-0 start

After starting the season with two wins, the Bret Harte High School baseball team hit a rough patch, losing three games in a row to fall to 2-3 in preseason play.

Bret Harte began its week with a 4-2 road loss to Bear Creek on March 3. Two days later, on March 5, the Bullfrogs suffered a rough 17-7 road loss to the Ripon Indians in Ripon. The week ended with a 10-3 home loss to the Ripon Christian Knights on March 6 in Angels Camp.

“This week was tough,” Bret Harte head coach Beau Hintz said. “The game on Tuesday (at Bear Creek) and the game today (vs. Ripon Christian) came down to us just walking too many guys. The pitchers who went in and threw strikes were successful, and it’s as simple as that. When we give up free bags, it makes it really hard to win baseball games.”

Bret Harte got some reinforcements added to its roster before the Ripon Christian game. With the Bret Harte basketball season coming to an end in the second round of the CIF State NorCal Division IV playoffs on March 5 in Burlingame, the baseball team got three key players back in the dugout. Senior Sawyer Maurer, junior Finn Smith and sophomore Hensley Speyer joined the team less than 24 hours after the basketball season came to an end, and both Smith and Speyer saw action against Ripon Christian.

Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise

While baseball is a sport that is difficult to jump into without much practice, Hintz doesn’t think it will be long for those three players to find their groove on the baseball field, as they have not been complete strangers to the team during the basketball season.

“The majority of the guys have at least been coming out to Saturday practices,” Hintz said. “We’re actually kind of fortunate that they came back today. I wasn’t really going to use them, but you know when the score was what it was, and after the first inning, it was like, this is where they get some reps. If they’re going to be guys who are playing every day for me, then I want to get them as many at bats as possible. We will be out here tomorrow, getting them as many reps as possible, and then, luckily, we have a game on Monday for them to get reps, and then we have three days of practice before our next game. So hopefully, by our first league game on Friday, they’ve had enough reps to where they feel OK. Obviously, the two guys that pitch, we’re going to have to work on their arm strength, and the arm conditioning. So, we’ll see what happens.”

In the 4-2 loss to Bear Creek, the Bullfrogs gave up three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth and were unable to come up with enough offense to mount a comeback.

Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise

Against Ripon, Bret Harte jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. However, Ripon responded with six runs in the bottom of the second and added another run in the third to go ahead 7-3. Bret Harte scored one run in the fourth, but the Indians countered with two runs in the bottom of the frame to push their lead to 9-4. The Bullfrogs cut the deficit to 9-7 with three runs in the top of the fifth, yet Ripon responded with three runs in the fifth and five runs in the sixth for the 10-run win.

“It was just defensive mistakes,” Hintz said about the loss to Ripon. “They weren’t on the stat sheet because they technically weren’t errors, but there were balls that should have been caught, and that happened multiple times. But then we compound that by giving free bases and making an error or two here, and then it just kind of gets away from you.”

Senior Landon Camacho had a strong day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a triple, drove in two runs and scored twice; junior Bryce Lenard went 2 for 4 with a double, had one RBI and scored one run; senior Urijah Gish went 2 for 2 with a double, had two RBIs, walked once, got hit by a pitch and scored one run; junior Caleb Vieira went 1 for 2, walked once and scored a run; junior Fox Darby went 1 for 3 with a walk and scored a run; and sophomore Matthew Valente walked once and scored once.

Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise

Darby took the loss on the mound, going three innings and allowing seven runs – two earned – on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Vieira pitched 1.2 innings and gave up three runs – one earned – on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts; freshman Mason Ashworth went 0.1 innings, giving up two runs on two hits with two walks; and freshman Colton Kane went 0.2 innings and gave up five runs on four hits with one walk.

The first inning against Ripon Christian couldn’t have gone any worse, as Bret Harte gave up nine runs. The Bullfrogs had several opportunities to get out of the inning with limited damage but could not make it happen, which is a change that Hintz would like to see from his team going forward.

“These guys have to learn how to stop the bleeding,” Hintz said. “Cooper (Cellini) had a tough first inning, but then we could have got out of the inning with a ground ball to shortstop, and then we made an error, and then it just continued to snowball. It’s just about baseball maturity and having leadership. The kids are trying, but at the same time, they need to get on it faster. They need to learn faster.”

Trailing 9-0 after one inning, Bret Harte scored its first run in the bottom of the second. Ripon Christian scored its final run in the top of the fourth, and Bret Harte plated two runs in the bottom of the fifth. The game was called after five innings because the late-afternoon sunlight in center field made it difficult for the catcher and batters to see the ball, and it was deemed too dangerous to continue.

Guy Dossi/Calaveras Enterprise

At the plate, Lenard went 1 for 3 and scored a run; junior Aiden Cole went 1 for 3; Speyer went 1 for 2; Gish went 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI; Vieira walked and scored one run; Camacho walked and scored once; and Darby had one RBI.

Cellini took the loss, going 0.2 innings and giving up nine runs – one earned – on two hits with four walks, one strikeout and three hit batters; Gish pitched 3.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits with one walk and six strikeouts; and Camacho went one inning and gave up no runs on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.

Bret Harte (2-3) will host the Galt Warriors at 4 p.m. on March 9 in Angels Camp before starting Mother Lode League play on the road against the Riverbank Bruins on March 13 in Riverbank. Bret Harte will then take on the Beyer Patriots on March 14 in Modesto.

For more pictures from Bret Harte vs. Ripon Christian, click the link below.
https://calaverasenterprise.smugmug.com/2026-3-6-Bret-Harte-Baseball-vs-Ripon-Christian
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Bret Harte at Bear Creek
Bear Creek 4, Bret Harte 2

Bret Harte at Ripon
Ripon 17, Bret Harte 7

BH – 3, 0, 0, 1, 3, 0, x – 7
Rip – 0, 6, 1, 2, 3, 5, x – 17

Bret Harte Individual Statistics
Hits – Camacho, 3; Lenard, 2; Gish, 2; Vieira, 1; Darby, 1
Runs – Camacho, 2; Lenard, 1; Vieira, 1; Valente, 1; Darby, 1; Gish, 1
RBIs – Gish, 2; Camacho, 2; Lenard, 1; Cole, 1
Doubles – Lenard, 1; Gish, 1
Triples – Camacho, 1
Home runs – None
Walks – Vieira, 1; Valente, 1; Darby, 1; Gish, 1; E. Poortinga, 1
HBP – Gish, 1
Steals – Camacho, 1

Pitching
Darby (L) – 3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Vieira – 1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Ashworth – 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Kane – 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Bret Harte vs. Ripon Christian
Ripon Christian 10, Bret Harte 3

RC – 9, 0, 0, 1, 0, x, x – 10
BH – 0, 1, 0, 0, 2, x, x – 3

Bret Harte Individual Statistics
Hits – Lenard, 1; Cole, 1; Speyer, 1; Gish, 1
Runs – Lenard, 1; Vieira, 1; Camacho, 1
RBIs – Darby, 1; Gish, 1
Doubles – Gish, 1
Triples – None
Home runs – None
Walks – Smith, 1; Vieira, 1; Camacho, 1
HBP – Darby, 1

Pitching
Cellini (L) – 0.2 IP, 2 H, 9 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
Gish – 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Camacho – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Bret Harte Baseball 2026
Feb. 21at Franklin (W) 8-4
Feb. 27 vs. Escalon (W) 6-3
March 3 at Bear Creek (L) 4-2
March 5 at Ripon (L) 17-7
March 6 vs. Ripon Christian (L) 10-3
March 9 vs. Galt, 4 p.m.
March 13 at Riverbank, 4 p.m.
March 14 at Beyer, 12 p.m.
March 17 vs. Calaveras, 4 p.m.
March 20 vs. Linden, 4 p.m.
March 24 at Big Valley Christian, 3:30 p.m.
March 31 at Summerville, 3:30 p.m.
April 2 vs. Summerville, 4 p.m.
April 6 at Amador, 4 p.m.
April 7 at Riverbank, 4 p.m.
April 10 vs. Riverbank, 4 p.m.
April 14 at Calaveras, 4 p.m.
April 17 vs. Calaveras, 4 p.m.
April 21 vs. Linden, 4 p.m.
April 24 at Linden, 4 p.m.
April 28 at Big Valley Christian, 3:30 p.m.
May 1 at Summerville, 3:30 p.m.

Mother Lode League Standings
Summerville 3-0 (0-0)
Big Valley Christian 4-2 (0-0)
Riverbank 3-2 (0-0)
Bret Harte 2-3 (0-0)
Calaveras 5-7 (0-0)
Linden 2-5 (0-0)