Senior trio powers Marysville past Golden Sierra

Tabbed as team leaders by first-year coach Billy Rollins, the Marysville High senior trio of Cody DePalma, Dylan Brown and Chad Perry certainly didn't disappoint at the plate on Tuesday afternoon.

In fact, not a whole lot went wrong for the Indians on this day.

Keyed by a strong outing from junior southpaw David Wright, the Indians played sound defense and showed patience at the dish, drawing 11 walks and banging out 13 hits to cruise past visiting Golden Sierra 15-5 at Weldon Field.

Marysville (2-1) sent eight batters to the plate in the first, and batted around in the second, third and fourth innings to build a 12-1 lead. The Grizzlies answered with a four-run fifth, but the Indians put the game away with a three-spot in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early.

DePalma, Brown and Perry did most of the damage by combining for 10 RBIs on the day, giving the Indians a boost of offense after scoring just one run over their first two games.

"I'm satisfied with where we're at," Rollins said. "From our scrimmage, to our first game, to our second game, to here, we've seen not only the physical improvement, but the mental improvement, too.

"The last thing that usually comes around is the bats, so it was nice to see that today."

After spotting the Grizzlies (0-2) a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Marysville went to work by scoring the next 12 runs of the game courtesy of some wildness by three Golden Sierra pitchers and a pair of balks that allowed two runs to cross the plate.

Brown got the Indians on the board with a two-run single to right in the first, and DePalma added a two-RBI single in the fourth to provide the key hits for the Indians. Perry then sent everyone home with a two-run double in the sixth that ended the game early due to the 10-run rule.

Brown finished his day 3 for 5 with three RBIs, DePalma was 2 for 3 with four RBIs and Perry went 2 for 4 with the double, three RBIs and four runs scored to pace the Indians' offense.

Not to be overlooked was a strong effort by Wright, who settled down after a shaky first to toss four solid innings. He allowed one run on three hits and retired nine batters in a row at one point.

"He only threw one organized inning in his life before this game," Rollins said. "It's nice to have a lefty. He's a great athlete and has that demeanor you want in a pitcher."

The only question for Marysville so far has been the health of Perry, who is battling tendinitis in his right shoulder and has yet to pitch this year. Perry said, "it's just a little sore, that's all," and Rollins added that he's going to take his time to make sure his senior standout is 100 percent before he throws him out there.

"We're taking it day by day, week by week," Rollins said. "He's got a lot of baseball left in him after this season, and we just want to make sure he's healthy."

And once healthy and back on the hill, Perry is confident the Indians can improve from last year when they finished 9-14 overall and 6-9 in the Golden Empire League, ending their run of three consecutive playoff appearances.

"We're pretty dedicated. The guys show up to practice every day and they work hard," the four-year varsity starter said. "We're getting better every day, so it should be a good season."

DePalma agreed, and added that the camaraderie of the team could be the one thing that takes them over the top.

"We've got the brotherhood," he said. "We all grew up playing together pretty much. We're all friends and we're all close."