Seton Catholic baseball team shows no signs of spring break rust in 8-2 win over Ridgefield

RIDGEFIELD — Seton Catholic baseball players and coaches went their separate ways for spring break with plans to reconvene near the end of the week to prepare for two challenging non-league games.

After a productive practice Thursday evening, the Cougars showed no signs of rust after a week off in an 8-2 win over Ridgefield on Friday at Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex to improve to 5-1 on the season.

“(We said), ‘Be back by 5 o’clock on Thursday,'” Seton Catholic coach Ted Wieczorek said. “We had a really good practice last night (to) get ready for this. Last year was kind of rough — we came back, everybody was still on vacation and they weren’t ready. To have that one really good practice, really detailed, yesterday was really beneficial today for us.”

The Cougars have lived on thin margins this season, winning two games by one run apiece, and they appeared to be heading for another close decision Friday when the Spudders rallied to get within 3-2 in the fourth inning as a result of two Cougars errors.

That comeback attempt was quickly put to rest when Seton erupted for five runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by RBI base hits from Ryker Ruelas and Garrett Nebels, plus a Thomas Clute sacrifice fly.

That sequence, combined right-handed pitcher Kolten Gesser’s complete-game showing with six strikeouts, four hits and no earned runs allowed, put the game out of reach.

“It was a confidence thing,” said Seton’s Teddy Wieczorek, who went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs scored. “We have problems with confidence, and once we get that going, we’ll get the bats going and it’ll be good.”

Ruelas, a San Jose State football commit, swung the hottest bat in the lineup with a 4-for-4 outing, including a double and three RBI. That Thursday night practice made all the difference, players and coaches agreed.

“I just felt like I just got to slow down the game (and) stay confident up there,” Ruelas said. “I had a good practice yesterday. So yeah, it felt good.”

A quality win over a Ridgefield team that reached the Class 2A state playoffs last year offered a good test for the Cougars, who won the program’s first district championship and made the 1A state quarterfinals in 2024.

Stacking up that experience has been a years-long process. Much of Seton’s senior class of seven has played on the team since they were eighth-graders, coach Wieczorek said.

“We had to have eighth graders incoming to field a team, but now they’re seniors. They’re more mature, they’re stronger, they’ve got better thought processes,” Ted Wieczorek said. “The goal this year is to win league, win the district championship, get to the (state) final four and see what happens.”

On the second day of a back-to-back Saturday, the Cougars will get another test against 4A Skyview at University of Portland’s Joe Etzel Field. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.

“I’m excited with how far we (can) go,” Teddy Wieczorek said. “It’s a good team. We’ve been playing together for, some of us 10 years … so I’m excited.”

SETON CATHOLIC 8, RIDGEFIELD 2

Seton Catholic      101       105       0—8             11             2

Ridgefield      000       200       0—2             4             4

Seton Catholic

Pitching — Kolten Gesser 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, win. Highlights — Teddy Wieczorek 2-3, 3 R; Garrett Nebels 2-5, R, RBI; Ryker Ruelas 4-4, R, 3 RBI; Jack Williams 1-2; Gavin Dumas 1-3, R; Max Ackerman 1-3, R.

Ridgefield

Pitching — Wyatt Hemmelman 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K, loss; Landon DeBeaumont 2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 K; Liam Ostrom 1 IP, 1 H, 2 K; Henry Wikstrom 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB. Highlights — Jared Gottsch 1-3, R, RBI; Hemmelman 2-3; Wikstrom 1-3; Jack Curtis 1-3