Yuba City baseball strikes first in Woodland series
It's been three years, but Raul Lozano knew the instant that fastball met aluminum: Good-bye. Straightway center. Time to trot.
Not since his freshman year has the Yuba City High baseball player cranked one out. On Tuesday, his welcome-back big fly was just what the Honkers needed in a 5-3 victory over Woodland.
Lozano hit a two-out, three-run blast in the third inning and the Honkers (16-4, 9-1) overcame an early deficit to take a 1-0 series lead over the Wolves (11-11, 7-4) in their best-of-three Tri-County Conference series.
"I knew it was gone, it felt good," the senior center fielder said. "Very clutch moment, you know."
Absolutely, and not bad for a football player either. Lozano, the Honkers' quarterback and soon-to-be NAIA scholarship athlete, was an area standout on Friday nights. Give him the ball in YC's veer offense and watch secondaries struggle.
Baseball was different, and before the season started, he had a one-on-one talk with his coach to discuss his role for the season. As the rain fell and forced practice to be moved inside, Lozano and coach Vicente Luevano stayed behind in the dugout.
The first-year coach remembers Lozano talking about his goals, his future with the team and how he could become a leader in a different way. There wouldn't be loud, impassioned huddle talk here — just a chance to contribute with his bat.
"He's good enough that he's going to help out our team and give us a chance to win baseball games," Luevano said. "He's been doing that since he started ... he's just on fire right now."
But usually he peppers the ball around, like he did with his other two hits on his 3-for-3 day with two runs. Today was different, and that much-awaited bomb did something else besides allowing Yuba City to take a 4-2 lead. It put his average at .500.
"Oh yeah, I've been hitting the ball well lately," Lozano said. "But that ball was right there and I just put a good hack on it."
Starting pitcher Cody Kent would agree. Still battling through some back soreness after he tweaked it against Pioneer two weeks ago, Kent allowed a pair of first-inning runs. He walked the opening batter, hit the next man he faced, and watched both mistakes score on a two-out Wolves single.
After Lozano's homer? Well that "gave him a lot of relief," he said. It showed on the hill, too, as Kent faced the minumum the next next two innings.
Seth Davis was 2 for 3 with a double and a run and Lozano scored in the second inning after scoring on a punted ball with two outs.
As a whole, Yuba City tallied seven hits but took full advantage of Woodland's defensive woes. Lozano's shot cashed in Blake Parks and Tyler Olson, who both reached on errors.
"If they didn't have errors it would have been a close game," said Kent, who went 5 2/3 innings before being relieved by Jake Cormier. We gotta play better baseball."
If they need a template, their No. 6 hitter provided it on Tuesday.
"He knows what's at stake because he's not going to play baseball again after this year," Luevano said. "So he's giving us everything he's got out there."
