Stanford Club Baseball's season ended in Henderson, NV last weekend at the NCBA Pacific Regional Tournament. The team went 1-2 in the four team double elimination tournament, ending Sacramento State's season with a 11-6 win in their second game of the tournament but falling to Grand Canyon University in Games 1 and 3 by scores of 0-10 and 1-8.
Stanford's victory over conference-rival Sacramento State in Game 2 of the tournament was one for the history books, largely in part due to the pitching heroics of Donnie Raymond. Raymond threw a complete game on 150 pitches to knock Sac State, who had handed Stanford their only regular season series loss, out of the tournament. He masterfully navigated their lineup to the tune of 8 strikeouts in his 7 innings of work. Although he allowed 6 runs (5 earned), Stanford's offense came to his aid with an 11 run explosion, including 4 runs in the top of the first before Raymond even took the mound. This included multiple hit and multiple RBI games from Caden Denning, Evan Schieber, Donnie Raymond, and Cameron Vaughan. In fact, the entire Stanford lineup recorded at least one hit against Sac State's best arms.
Stanford finished the season 13-6 overall, with a conference record of 12-3, as they placed second in the Pacific-North Conference behind Sac State. Their appearance in the regional marked their third in four seasons. The team notched series wins against conference opponents Saint Mary's, University of San Francisco, Cal Poly Humboldt, and Santa Clara. The Cardinal ended the season with a +48 run differential (141 runs for, 93 against), scoring the most runs per game (7.42) of any team in the Pacific-North.
The most productive offense in the conference was led by three players with over a 1.000 OPS – Donnie Raymond, Caden Denning, and Evan Schieber. Raymond finished the season with an absurd .600/.654/1.000 slash line 9 doubles, a triple, and 5 home runs. He led the team with 31 RBIs, providing arguably the best middle of the lineup presence in the entire country. Denning finished with an equally impressive .540/.610/.810 slash line with 9 doubles, a triple, and 2 home runs. The speedy Denning led the team in stolen bases by going 12 for 12 on attempts and also had 22 RBIs of his own. Schieber put together a .475/.627/.576 slash line, leading the team in walks with 20 and runs with 29 (in large part due to the donkeys hitting behind him).
The team got production in the middle of its lineup from its veterans, such as Gabe Seir (.857 OPS in 72 PAs, 17 RBIs), Tomas Coghlan (.926 OPS in 19 PAs), Jeremy Rubin (.764 OPS in 76 PAs, 17 RBIs) Cameron Vaughan (.686 OPS in 55 PAs), and Daisuke Masuda (.585 OPS in 55 PAs). The former three – Rubin, Vaughan, and Masuda – are the team's graduating class and will all be thoroughly missed. Rubin and Vaughan were the only two remaining players who were a part of the team before the pandemic, who both helped foster a new era of greatness for the program. The departure of these three is creating big holes that will need to be filled by younger players on the team. Potential candidates to take another step forward next year include rising sophomore Angel Villeraldo Amador, who was a sure-handed outfielder and put together a .732 OPS in 46 PAs, Grant Fisher, who flashed impressive athleticism in the outfield and racked up a .643 OPS in 14 PAs, and Aaryan Shah, who had an impressive .920 OPS in 11 PAs. Stanford will also look to get contributions next year from John Paul Aguilar, a second baseman who was third on the team with 10 walks, Casey Oden, a dynamic outfielder who had 4 hits and 6 walks during his rookie campaign, and Danny Park, who had a .722 OPS in 14 PAs.
The Stanford arm barn also provided lots to be proud of this year. Gabe Seir, the team's ace and workhorse, led with 38.2 innings pitched and a 2.35 ERA (best among those who threw more than 10 innings). In this monstrous workload, he struck out 46, including 13 looking, and only walked 27. Elijah Meltzer was the teams #2 starter, consistently piggybacking off of Seir's excellent starts with fabulous outings of his own. In 28.1 innings pitched, the rising junior had a 2.97 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 18 walks. Donnie Raymond flashed impressive two-way prowess, serving as both a high-leverage reliever and starter for the Cardinal. In his 34.1 innings of work, Raymond had an ERA of 3.26 while striking out 42 and only walking 18. These three will return to anchor the rotation next year, providing consistent high-quality innings for the Cardinal every weekend.
The three key arms were supplemented by a chorus of great contributions by the bullpen. Daisuke Masuda was particularly impressive, as he had an ERA of 1.75 with 6 Ks in 8 innings of work. Nikhil Kothari, a young arm who is a breakout candidate for next year, had an ERA of 3.00 in 7 innings pitched. The team also got innings from Cameron Vaughan (who did not give up a run in the regular season), Angel Villeraldo Amador (4.1 IP), and Jeremy Rubin (2.1 IP).
Next year, Stanford Club Baseball will continue trying to climb the mountain that has been just out of reach for the past 5 years – to make and win the NCBA World Series. Stanford has made the regional tournament three of the last four years but failed to get over the hump each time. The Cardinal will look to do so by building off of its returning talent, seeing steps forward from its younger players, and welcoming a new crop of players in the fall. The team has already begun preparing for next season, anxiously awaiting for when they can once again don their cardinal and white uniforms, take the short trip over to Woodside High School, and get back to work.
