Walnut Creek finishes week undefeated with Father's Day shutout

With a vibrant crowd at Monte Vista High School packed with fans, primarily fathers who threw out the ceremonial first pitch, got to their feet to cheer on redshirt freshman right hander Jacob Kobrin. Walnut Creek was one pitch away from two special achievements.

He then delivered a strikeout, confirming the first Crawdad shutout of 2026 and a sweep of the week, going 6-0 in their last six games after taking down Philippines Baseball Group 5-0.

Heading into the game red-hot off the back of a 12-6 win over Alameda, the Crawdads had a goal in mind: finish the week undefeated.

While Walnut Creek, now 10-4, had it in its grasp heading into Sunday, it was a goal that was set earlier in the week.

As Kobrin walked off the mound confirming the sweep, he thought back to the start of the run.

"Coach Dustine Cheyne, beginning of the week, said 'sweep the week and we'll be in a good spot,'" Kobrin said. "This is definitely an important week in this summer."

In the previous few games, the offense had a knack to score early. Despite an imperfect start the day before, Thursday and Friday saw strong starts to the game at the plate from the Crawdads. 

That theme continued Sunday, with senior third baseman Kevin Parker Jr. picking up an RBI double in the first inning in the third at-bat of the game. The early offense continued in the second, junior right fielder Shane Aldridge scoring on an error after singling and stealing second.

As sophomore righthander Hudson Aber stepped on the mound, he looked to continue a strong stretch of starts from the Walnut Creek pitching staff. 

Despite Kalani Jauregui, Alessandro Martinez, Dylan Scott, Jeremy Jones and Devin James putting up impressive numbers in the previous five games, all allowing under five hits and two runs, Aber found a way to one-up all of them.

Rolling through the first two innings without a hit, Aber finished his day pitching four innings of scoreless one-hit baseball, striking out four batters en route to being named player of the game. 

Finishing up one of the most impressive starts of the year for Walnut Creek, Aber credited those around him for the success.

"Everyone looks great," Aber said. "Everyone's competing hard, and it's just a good vibe in the bullpen. I love everyone on the staff."

In the fifth inning, Walnut Creek found even more run support. Despite standing at six foot tall, weighing 210 pounds and hitting 10 home runs the past season at Delta College, sophomore designated hitter Sutter Moss was still waiting for his first home run of the season. That was until he saw the pitch he was waiting for. 

A moment that even coach Brant Cummings was waiting for, Moss crushed the ball to center field to extend the Crawdad lead to 3-0.

Having gotten his first of the year, Moss was honest about how he felt

"Pretty dang good," Moss said. "Finally got a swing off that made contact with. Too many big hacks lately, and finally got one that settled down and got a pitch I could drive and drove it."

While Aber's start impressed, the rotation's strong day didn't end after its starting pitcher. 

Miles Tenscher, Samuel Johnston, Carlos Hernandez and Jacob Kobrin backed up Aber in pitching a shutout, with the Walnut Creek staff's final stat line reading five hits and four walks while striking out seven during the shutout.

With his pitching staff recording an impressive game, Cummings was proud of what his team did right.  

"Shutouts come because you throw strikes and guys play catch, and especially get you out of a couple of jams," Cummings said. "Two double plays got us out of jams with runners in scoring position."

While Moss made the biggest impact at the plate in the back end of the game, his home run was not the end of the scoring for the Crawdads. 

In the eighth inning, Walnut Creek added two runs of insurance. The first coming via an RBI from junior second baseman Alijah Ramos, the second from a sacrifice grounder off the bat of junior left fielder Daniel Polasek.

With the Crawdads confirming a 5-0 win after their eigth inning offense and ninth inning performance from Kobrin, vibes were high at Monte Vista High School following a performance that proved the Crawdad identity.

At the plate, Walnut Creek continued their theme of finding runs in whatever way necessary. Whether it was a home run, or a sacrifice fly after two stolen bases, the Crawdads have proven that they have true offensive versatility at the plate.

After a rough go on the mound in the week before, Walnut Creek wrapped up a strong week of pitching on Sunday.

In four of six games, the Crawdads gave up one run or less, including Sunday's shutout. It was just two games against Alameda where Walnut Creek allowed multiple runs, still keeping the tallies to five and six respectively. 

Finally returning to the mound after an injury, Johnston helped wrap up the week allowing zero runs. His return being a big moment, he's happy to be back contributing to a group that he's proud to be a part of.

"This is one of the best staffs I've worked with," Johnston said. "Not only skill wise, but just the way that we're able to come together, even if it's for one summer. We came together super quick and have a really good bond."

The one dark spot of the day for Walnut Creek was the departure of sophomore shortstop Peyton Rawles, which was announced pregame. After 12 recording a .340 batting average with four RBIs and 11 stolen bases, Rowles decided to take the rest of the summer to rest. Although it was a short amount of time, Cummings was very proud to coach him.

"I like him as a person," Cummings said. "He's a lot like I am. He's just quiet, shows up ready to go, plays. There's no fanfare to him. He doesn't need anyone to pump him up because 'okay, here's my job, I gotta go do it and do it well.' So it's disappointing to see him go. It really is. I think we'll be okay, but he's a hard guy to replace. He's probably our best player."

Now, after ending last week 0-3, the Crawdads spent a week undefeated, their 10-4 record good for second in the CCL North. 

Walnut Creek will return to action on Wednesday after two days off, first pitch against Sonoma set for 4:00 p.m. at Monte Vista High School.