Pitching shines in Crawdads second win of 2026

Top of the fifth inning. Bases loaded with two out for Red Tails Baseball. Walnut Creek Crawdads lead 6-2, potential tying run at the plate. Sophomore right hander Kalani Jauregui stepped onto the mound in the biggest moment of the game for the Crawdad defense. Six pitches later, Jauregui picks up a strikeout.

Thursday night, the Walnut Creek Crawdads defeated Red Tails Baseball 7-2, bringing their record to 2-0 on the season.

After giving up 16 runs the day before, the Crawdads put on a clinic on the mound against Red Tails Baseball. At the forefront of the performance was Jauregui, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings allowing two hits and striking out four batters.

After the game, he emphasized the importance of performances like that for the rest of the season.

"It's going to be very important if we want to go on a run here," Jauregui said. "The staff did a well done job today of keeping our composure, even if we got behind."

Despite the great outing, Jauregui wasn't the only pitcher who shined on Thursday. 

Starting the game, Sophomore right hander Alessandro Martinez went three innings allowing just three hits and one unearned run. 

Trying to re-write the story of Wednesday's performance on the mound, Martinez spoke about the messaging to the pitching staff ahead of Thursday's game.

"You just got to pitch the ball as well as you can, and get outs as quick as you can," Martinez said. "Get that offense back on the other side of the ball, so they can do their job as they did today. We did our jobs, they did their jobs."

After Martinez started the game, redshirt freshman right hander Tre Golino stepped onto the mound and went 1 2/3 innings allowing just one hit and one earned run. Of the five batters he got out, three were strikeouts.

Jauregui then followed Golino, before sophomore lefty Dylan Scott finished the game with two innings of no-hit baseball, only allowing two walks, striking out three batters. 

One of the primary factors that lead to the defensive improvement from game one to game two was the situational pitching.

Red Tails Baseball finished the day with 14 runners left on base, at least one in every inning. While the Red Tails found ways to get on base, the Crawdads made sure they limited the amount of times their opponents would touch home. 

Seeing his pitchers in multiple situations with runners in scoring position, manager Brant Cummings spoke about his messaging to pitchers in high-pressure situations.

"First thing I say, 'your job is to get the guy at home plate out,'" Cummings said. "Whether he hits a sac fly or fly ball and got a score, whatever it is, they've got to get the hitter out." 

A major contributor to the strong performance from the Crawdads wasn't just the arms on the mound, but the work in the field from the defense as well. 

His defense making many important plays, including multiple double plays, Cummings was proud of the work the fielders did Thursday evening.

"The ability to field plays that aren't routine and make average throws is really important, especially when there's runners on base," Cummings said.

The Crawdads now sit at 2-0 with their first CCL game up next on the schedule. 

With league play starting on Friday against Sonoma, Jauregui is confident in his team's mindset heading into the big game.

"We're electric, we're living, we're having a lot of fun, and we're excited to head out to Sonoma," Jauregui said.