Slides and celebrations

With most of last year's power hitters gone and playing at the next level, Yuba City High baseball coach Jim Stassi felt that pitching and defense would no doubt be the strength of his team entering the 2010 season.

After all, when the big bats of seniors Max Stassi, Kevin Noall, Hunter Graves, James Haymore and company crossed the stage last June, Yuba City saw 27 of its 28 home runs go with them.

But power wasn't much of a problem for the Honkers during Friday's season opener as Jake Stassi, Blake Parks and Tyler Olson each ripped home runs to lead Yuba City to an 8-0 victory over Roseville at Winship Field.

"I knew coming in that we had were deep in pitching and that we played good defense up the middle; the only question mark was our offense," Jim Stassi said. "Today we had more pop than I expected."

The Honkers (1-0) stranded five runners on base over the first two innings before finally breaking through with their first big fly of the game. After striking out the side in order in the top of the frame, starting pitcher Jake Stassi stepped to the plate and led off the bottom half by sending a screaming line drive over the fence in centerfield to put the Honkers up 1-0.

Yuba City added to the lead in the following inning when a throwing error by Tigers' starting pitcher Dalton Blaser allowed pinch runner Blake Alexander to race home from second and score.

The error came back to haunt Blaser later in the inning when sophomore Zach Oakley lined a clutch two-out RBI single to knock in Seth Davis and give the Honkers a 3-0 lead. It was a good piece of hitting by Oakley, who fought off two pitches with two strikes before driving the 0-2 offering into left.

The runs were more than enough offense for Stassi, who overcame control problems early to pitch six shutout innings and earn the win. While he did hit a pair of batters over the first two innings, the senior south paw settled down and never issued a walk while allowing two hits and striking out five.

"I thought he did pretty good locating the fastball, but the cutter was his most effective pitch," Jim Stassi said. "He had problems with his curveball early, but he got that dialed in."

Parks led off the fifth with a bang when he crushed the second offering from new pitcher Cameron O'Quinn high over the fence in center to give Yuba City a 4-0 lead. It was a solid varsity debut behind the plate as well for the junior, who has the chore of replacing three-year starter Max Stassi as the Honkers' back stop.

"All three of our catchers are solid, but Blake is probably the more total package as far as offense and defense," Jim Stassi said of the junior. "He's got a cannon for an arm and he receives the ball real well."

Olson made the most of his varsity debut as well by ripping a pinch-hit, two-run homer later in the fifth to give Yuba City a 6-0 cushion. The shot was the just latest for the hot-swinging Olson, who hit two homers against Jesuit and another against Granite Bay in the Yuba City's recent scrimmages.

"I was coming off the bench so I was a little nervous," said Olson, who finished 2-for-2 with the home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. "The ball is looking big to me right now so I just saw it and hit it. It's a good start."

Andrew Garcia knocked in a run with a fielder's choice in the fifth and Yuba City tacked on an unearned run in the sixth to complete the scoring. Sam Kuykendall struck out two in the seventh to wrap up the win.

Oakley finished 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, and Blair Beilby was 1-for-1 and scored a run for Yuba City, which had seven hits in the game. Next up for the three-time defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division III champion Honkers is a trip to Bella Vista on Tuesday.