Bradshaw Christian Claims NorCal Championship
Jun 06, 2024 01:18PM ● By Alejandro Barron
The Bradshaw Christian Pride celebrate their second CIF NorCal championship in three years to end their season with an overall record of 33-1. They defeated the Piedmont Highlanders 6-0 in Piedmont on June 1. Photo courtesy of @bradshawchristianofficial on Instagram
ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - The Bradshaw Christian Pride, after a 33-1 season, were crowned as the 2024 Division IV CIF NorCal Baseball champions following a 6-0 win over the Piedmont Highlanders.
The champions of the Sierra Valley Conference and Division V Sac-Joaquin Section champions clinched their second NorCal championship in three years.
“I think these kids are resilient, play good defense, pitch well, they like each other and get along and it’s just a good group to coach,” head coach of the Pride Drew Rickert said following their win on May 28 over the Branson Bulls.
To get to this instance, the No. 2 seed Pride had to defeat Branson in the first round by a score of 2-1 then the Mountain View Spartans by a score of 6-1.
Standout performances from this run to the NorCal championship include Alex Crosno, who pitched five innings and allowed one hit to the Bulls, as well as Landon Carter and Micah Nicholson, who both drove in the two runs in the first-round win.
“It’s huge he allows one hit in the fifth inning and was throwing the ball well, getting a lot of popups that always help a ton like getting ahead in the count and I thought he pitched really well,” Rickert said of Crosno.
As for the semifinals against the Spartans on May 30, David Wiser pitched 6.1 innings and allowed an unearned run with seven strikeouts to give the Pride a chance at advancing.
This ballgame was tied up until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Pride exploded for five runs to put the Spartans away with Ethan Rickert shutting the door.
In the championship game, the Pride scored two runs each in the first, second and fourth innings to take the win 6-0 with two RBIs each from Carter and Nicholson and one each from Gabe Viegas and Max Wolf.
On the mound for the Pride was Rickert, who went four innings, and Nicholson who pitched three innings for a combined nine strikeouts and the shutout.
The Pride earlier this season captured their seventh section title and added to Rickert’s total of 11 section titles as the head coach of the baseball and football programs.
