Scotts Valley sophomore Owen Martin delivered one of the biggest hits in his young career Tuesday afternoon, which could potentially help turn around the season moving forward.
With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh inning, he smacked the ball for a base hit down center field in the Falcons’ 2-1 walk-off victory over Santa Teresa in non-league action.
“I had bunt signed twice, and [it was] a little scary because I missed both, went down 0-2,” Martin said. “Battled back to 3-2, figured all I gotta do is put the ball in play. And I got it where I wanted it.”
Scotts Valley senior pitcher Kaleb Wing, who tossed four scoreless innings while tallying nine strikeouts, was one of the first to bull rush Martin as he spread his arms open to embrace his jubilant teammates to celebrate in front of the cheering home crowd.
“We’ve played some pretty good teams early on here and things haven’t necessarily rolled our way,” Wing said. “But today, picking up the momentum, going into league on Friday, that’s gonna be really big for us as a team.”
The Falcons improved to a 3-4 overall record as they head into Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League action beginning Friday at Aptos. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30pm.
“Our team pitched really well, we played good defense,” said Scotts Valley first-year head coach Kevin Taylor. “That’s gonna be kind of our forte this year, kind of our blueprint. Just playing really solid baseball and playing really good defensively. The boys showed up today, I’m really proud of them.”
Wing said they were prepared to swing the bats, and fellow pitchers junior Garrett Brown and sophomore Nick Acton filled up the zone nicely, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks while combining for 12 strikeouts against the Saints.
“My biggest goal was to fill up the zone, let my defense work,” Wing said. “[The] defense made some great plays behind me, which really carried the momentum through the game. We had the bats to back it up, so it was really good.”
Acton is having a solid season at the plate, and even scored the game-winning run in Tuesday’s game against Santa Teresa. Yet, it was his arm that did most of the talking. He allowed one run on one hit while recording three strikeouts in three innings of work on the mound.
“We really needed it,” Taylor said about picking up the victory over Santa Teresa. “We had a lot of close games that didn’t go our way. Having that momentum going into league is huge for us.”
Acton is part of a group with fellow sophomores Monte Jordan, Byrce McDonnell and Owen that call themselves the “Quadmores.”
“We’re a young team and we’re putting together plays and runs,” Owen said. “The chemistry is really good and it’s really impressive.”
Jordan is batting a .429 average (9-for-21) with one triple, one double, seven RBIs, three runs scored and a pair of walks. On Tuesday, he hit a dinker toward third base line and safely reached first on an errant throw by the Saints’ defense, which then allowed McDonnell to score for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.
McDonnell is batting a .368 average (7-for-19) with two doubles, four RBIs, four runs scored and two walks. He also has 13 strikeouts and is 1-0 on the mound this season.
The “Quadmores” have been a great addition to the Falcons, who finished with a 17-8 overall record and were runners-up in the SCCAL behind league champion Aptos in 2024. They also lost a big chunk of their roster including Quinn Turowski, Jack Abel, Jack Sanders and Blake LaRiviere—the league’s reigning most valuable player.
However, Wing believes they can still be one of the teams to beat this season.
“We got a lot of young talent out here,” he said. “Teams might think that we lost a lot of guys that we’re not going to be contending this year, but we absolutely are. We’re going to bring the energy and we’re going to make teams really respect us.”
Wing is batting a .381 average (8-for-21) with two home runs, two doubles, nine RBIs, five runs scored and three walks for the Falcons this season. On the mound, he’s allowed just one earned run on one hit and one walk while racking up 13 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched.
Last week, Wing was clocking in pitch speeds up to 95 miles per hour. Needless to say, he’s been getting some looks from baseball scouts.
“[Wing’s] a super talented player but he’s got his head on his shoulders,” Taylor said. “He’s the captain, everybody follows his lead and even when things aren’t going his way, he still has his head on right.”
Others stepping up this season include senior Kit DeForest, who is batting a .250 average (5-for-20) with one home run, one double, four RBIs, four runs scored and one walk. Teammate senior Clayton Pryor has seven hits (two doubles), five walks and six runs scored, while senior Lukas Bloom has seven hits (three doubles), five RBIs and six runs scored.
“This group knows how talented we are, and we know that we have the capability of doing something special,” Taylor said. “But this group, as a whole, has come together. Every time we get together, we go ‘1-2-3, Family.’ That’s just how it is. It’s just one big family and you can really see it on the baseball field.”
