Colfax baseball returns with dominant pitching and home-field pride

There is big-time pride that emulates from small-town baseball programs. Colfax High School is a prime example. It wasn't until Feb. 19, when the California Department of Public Health updated youth sports guidance, that high school baseball programs learned they would have a season. But members of the Colfax baseball program – players, coaches and parents alike – kept their small-town pride intact all along. Typically, Colfax has four to five fundraisers ahead of each season to help with equipment, uniforms, field upkeep, the norm. However, like many other high school sports this season, they had none. Most teams weren't able to hold any gatherings for fundraisers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the Falcons spent the offseason maintaining Quigley Field, improving netting and fencing and cleaning up the dugouts and bullpens. The team's efforts were to make sure the field was ready for what the Falcons believed would be Opening Day. That came Wednesday afternoon as Colfax hosted Forest Lake Christian in the Falcons' first game in more than a year. On St. Patrick's Day, the team in green was proud to defend its home field. "We've been doing travel ball this past year, but it's not the same as playing here," Colfax junior Noah Souza said. "Some of us juniors have never played on this field before. This was our first time. It was nice to be on this field." Souza pitched three hitless relief innings, recording all nine outs via strikeout to close Colfax's 8-0 win. He followed the lead of senior starter Anthony Packard, who was dominant in four innings. Packard struck out 10 and allowed only a seeing-eye single and a dribbler that stopped dead on the chalk halfway up the third-base line. "The kids have been waiting for this for a year," said Colfax coach Chris Nave, who knows a thing or two about Colfax pride. Nave was a three-sport standout and all-league pitcher for the Falcons in the early 1990s before pitching at Sacramento State. "Everyone was anxious to get out here and get going," Nave said. "I'm so happy for these guys that they got a game under their belt. Now the ball's rolling." The ball was more so flying off the Colfax bats Wednesday. Packard went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a two-run homer. He also stole a base and scored three runs. His battery mate, senior Trevor Davis, rapped two hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Colfax lost nine seniors from a lost 2020 season. The Falcons played just eight games before last March's COVID shutdown nullified any chances of a Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI three-peat. Davis is the only player remaining from the last title team in 2019. "They've got a little bit of a chip on their shoulder because of that," Nave said. "They're eager and they have something to prove. I'm happy about that." But these Falcons are not looking at the past. With no league championships or playoff berths on the line this season, they're not even looking toward the future. "We're just playing for right now," Packard said. "Coach (David) Stallions always tells us, 'Play where your feet are.' Our feet are here right now. This is our first game, so this is what we're playing for right now. We're not playing in any playoffs right now. This is our first game, so we're just playing to win the first game. On Monday, we'll be playing to win the second one."