Griffins win first state championship

2017 GROSSMONT GRIFFINS BASEBALL

 

By Ramon Scott

EastCountySports.com

 

FRESNO – Grossmont College head coach RANDY ABSHIER knows how special this group of Griffins was.

He also knows that his team’s trip this week to the 2017 California Community College Athletic Association State Championship would likely be a once-a-generation event for everyone involved.

The Griffs were outsiders at the four-team finals in Fresno.

Respected, yes, for their obvious talent and powerful reputation.

But Grossmont was a newcomer nonetheless.

Still, this hodgepodge of players from the San Diego and Temecula areas were a nearly unstoppable mix of pitching, power and speed that really was only slowed by an early month of rain-interrupted seasoning.

While to a man, the Griffins proclaimed themselves underdogs, they ultimately performed with such extreme confidence that their celebration in the middle of the diamond Sunda at John Euless Ballpark following their 10-6 state championship win on Memorial Day over Santa Rosa seemed inevitable once the goal became clear.

The team had learned from its experience last season reaching the Southern California sectionals before losing to Cypress.

“This team is from different areas of San Diego and Temecula,” Abshier said. “They were just dominant on the field. They had a no quit attitude every game.

“I actually had to control them a lot of times because they always wanted to play as hard as they can in practice or in games. That attitude is just amazing.”

 

The GREATEST assistant coaches a skipper could ask for! pic.twitter.com/bbwKDwykB0

— Grossmont College (@GCGriffin_BSB) May 30, 2017

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FRESNO – May has been pretty good to Grossmont College freshman HAYDEN SHENEFIELD.

Earlier this month, the Griffins’ right-handed pitcher received a B.S. degree in business management from San Diego State.

Late Monday afternoon, the 2013 El Camino Real High grad was named Most Valuable Player of the Final Four tournament at the CCCAA state championship.

He pitched the final two innings of the Griffins’ championship-clinching 10-6 win over Santa Rosa.

“Hayden Shenefield called me in the fall and said, ‘hey, I play adult ball, do you mind me coming out and trying out for the team?'” Grossmont coach RANDY ABSHIER said. “You never turn away a guy from a program. He came in and he’s the real deal. He’s just an amazing individual.”

Shenefield has a major role in all three Grossmont wins at the championship series, tossing a complete game and recording a save in the process.

“I just came out with the same approach I’d been doing since I got my first start in the middle of the year — just throw strikes and get people out. That’s the plan.”

Shenefield, earning his way into the starting rotation mid-season, delivered a six-hitter on Memorial Day, as Grossmont advanced to the series finals.

The day prior, he earned the save with one inning in a tournament-opening win over Ohlone.

His hard work at SDSU while taking onine courses at Grossmont has led to more opportunities to further his education and pitching development.

“I look to continue my baseball career while getting my MBA,” Shenefield said.

 

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FRESNO – Concerningly, Griffins slugger NOAH STROHL got off to a slow start at the state championship series.

A hamstring injury affected the sophomore’s swing, but it didn’t slow him enough to prevent him from finding a few pitches he could handle in his usual fashion on Monday en route to a four-RBI performance in the ultimate game.

The first baseman out of La Jolla High, cranked a two-run home run in the third inning.

He later doubled in a run in both the seventh and eighth innings.

“He’s got a little bit of a hamstring pull and that’s why he didn’t run very hard on those doubles,” Abshier said. ” He struggled here early, but he’s got that aggressiveness of wanting to get it done and he got it done.”

Strohl, who is headed to San Diego State, is a statue at 6-foot-6, 235 pounds. He led Grossmont with 11 round-trippers this season, while hitting .270 and still driving in a team-high 56 runs.

“Noah is the voice of our team,” Shenefield said. “He gets everyone on the team up and going.

“He came through in a big way today.”

 

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FRESNO – While Grossmont seemingly won at will for most of the season, recording three winning streaks of 10 games or more, the championship drive took two turns on Memorial Day that put the Griffins’ championship hopes in doubt.

Santa Rosa won the first game 5-4 forcing a deciding game where the Griffins were going to bat first.

The loss for Grossmont ended a 12-game winning streak.

Later, in the deciding game, the Bear Cubs scored three runs to close a Griffins’ lead to 6-5 with a three-run seventh.

But former Granite Hills Eagle ROBERT BOSTEDT roped a bases-clearning double re-expanding the Griffins’ lead.

He also had an RBI double in the fifth inning of the first game, which at the time, stake the Griffs to a 4-3 lead.

Bostedt, a sophomore, had a tremendous season offensively surrounded by a lineup of offensive stars. A team that was built for Fresno.

Bostedt hit .371 with 14 stolen bases on the season.

He will be playing at NCAA Division II power Chico State next season.

 

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FRESNO – A pair of former West Hills Wolf Pack pitchers had their impact in the championship doubleheader on Monday for Grossmont College.

Freshman left-hander JEREMIAH BARR got his first win of the season in the deciding game, allowing two runs, but striking out five in 3 1/3 innings.

UNLV-bound pitcher DONAVON MCCRYSTAL got the call to start the earlier championship game, but he left after 4 1/3 innings, allowing a couple of earned runs, but he was hobbled after taking a line drive in the leg.

He continued on and was able to pitch somewhat effectively, but was limited getting off the mound defensively.

McCrystal finished the season 9-2 with a 2.39 ERA.

 

 

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Santa Rosa vs Grossmont

 

Santa Rosa 5

Grossmont 4

 

Grossmont 10

Santa Rosa 6

 

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