Sometimes you remember a game more as the culmination of a journey than the game itself. Granted, the Justin-Siena High baseball team’s 4-1 win over the Calaveras (San Andreas) Redskins in the 2000 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Div. III championship game had its share of great moments but to appreciate the victory, you had to understand the Braves’ journey.
I must be honest, if you relocated that game to say, March 27th, I probably wouldn’t have remembered it even if I covered it in person. However, given the stage and the ramifications, I remember it like yesterday.
Setting the scene: Before the 1999 season, Steve Meyer stepped down as the Braves head coach after 12 seasons. The fact that Meyer juggled Dean of Students duties with varsity baseball head coach was a tough task. In stepped Allen Rossi, who had a long run of success as a manager for the Joe DiMaggio Baseball League. Rossi compiled a record of 238-55 with six league titles and a state championship in 1993.
Rossi immediately made the Braves relevant by going 17-9 in 1999 and though the season ended in the first round of the playoffs, it was clear that a new day had dawned for Justin baseball as it made its first postseason appearance since 1989. Meyer, however, would remain in the program as the Braves’ JV coach and led Justin to a co-Superior California Athletic League title in 2000.
The Braves established dominance in 2000 going 25-1 with the lone loss being a 9-8 loss to Vanden. Though Justin had many that contributed to its success that season like Steve Andres, Jon Foreman, A.J. Paniagua Eduardo Borrego, Ron Duvall, Carl Gray and Matt Siegal to name a few, but if there was one guy that truly epitomized that Braves team, it was catcher Rick Carpenter. Take one glance at him and you think of the word “throwback” -- as lambchop sideburns, eye-black and being a catcher undaunted by physical contact. He led both by example and vocally. If John Madden had an “All-Madden” high school baseball team -- Carpenter would have been on it.
Thumbnail sketch of the game: Despite all of their immediate success under Rossi, Calaveras was the last hurdle that stood between the Braves and a section title. Carpenter drove in three runs while ace Jon Foreman pitched a complete-game six-hitter. The Braves scored two runs in the first inning, one in the third and one more in the fifth. Paniagua, who was the Braves shortstop and leadoff hitter, set the table in going 2 for 3.
Calaveras cut Justin’s lead to 2-1 with its lone run in the second inning but got no closer. While Foreman and the Braves defense was strong throughout the game, and season for that matter, there were a couple of dicey moments late in the game. In the sixth inning, Foreman gave up leadoff singles in the fifth and sixth innings but worked his way out of both situations to hold the Redskins scoreless.
In the sixth inning, it was a spectacular defensive play that saved the Braves’ bacon. With Kyle Duke on first base with one out, Matt Kubat blasted a pitch deep to right-field that sent Andres, who was a converted catcher, in pursuit. Andres reached to make an over the shoulder catch and subsequently fired a strike to Duvall at first base for the inning ended double play.
In the seventh inning, Shane Dougherty got a one-out single but Foreman struck out the next two batters to end the game and the celebration began as Braves players charged the mound as Carpenter jumped into Foreman’s arms and the dog-pile ensued.
What it meant: This game marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. This was the last game Justin would play as a member of the Sac Joaquin Section. The SCAL disbanded and Justin became a member of the North Coast Section, moving to the Marin County Athletic League.
Rossi continued to coach until 2006 before resigning to care for his wife, who had been injured in an automobile accident. The Braves would appear in five consecutive NCS title games, winning three straight from 2003-2005 including an undefeated ‘05 campaign. Justin reached the ‘02 and ‘06 title games before falling to St. Bernard (Eureka) and John Swett (Crockett) respectively.
Scott Wright took over as the Braves coach from 2007-2012. Justin was successful on some level in going 76-58-2 including an NCS D-IV runner-up finish in 2007 under Wright but filling Rossi’s shoes is a tall order. Wright was dismissed after the 2011 season. Rossi returned in 2012, guiding Justin to the NCS D-IV semifinals followed by consecutive section titles in 2014-2015. In 2012-2013, the Braves immediately returned to prominence only to lose in the NCS D-IV semifinals.
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