Still numbed by the death on Sunday of popular pitching coach and former star Scott Heinig, the Davis High School baseball team responded impressively at the three-day Fresno Baseball Classic
.
Heinig died after falling and hitting his head at a post-Picnic Day house party in Davis.
With Heinig's initials stitched in their caps and his No. 20 jersey hanging in the dugout, the No. 5 Blue Devils went 3-0-1; played 24 innings in less than 24 hours; and capped things off by upending Fresno 9-1 on Wednesday behind junior pitcher Ben Eckels' two-hit, one-walk, 14-strikeout performance.
Fresno (18-4) is ranked No. 9 by The Fresno Bee.
Chris Gnos led the way offensively with a double, single and three runs batted in. For the tournament, he had eight hits and drove in nine runs.
Davis' monumental win came shortly after the Blue Devils played Garces of Bakersfield to a 6-6, nine-inning tie late Tuesday afternoon. George Hatamiya sent the game into extra innings with a bottom-of-the seventh RBI triple after Garces had scored five in the top of the seventh to take a 6-5 lead.
The Garces game started immediately after Davis had beaten Independence of Bakersfield 6-3 in eight innings. Hatamiya sacrificed home a run and Gnos and Eckles had RBI hits in the decisive eighth. Chase Hunt-Murray and Reinert Tofft combined to strike out 10 and allow five hits.
Davis opened the tournament on Monday with a 5-0 win over Bakersfield's North as Alex Miramontes tossed a two-hitter and Gnos tripled, doubled and drove in three runs.
Before leaving for Fresno, the players and coaches held a memorial for Heinig on the mound Sunday.
-Bill Paterson
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