Fallon’s Baylor Sandberg helped the Greenwave grab the top seed for this week's Northern Region 3A baseball tournament.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
How does a Greenwave player celebrate the end of the regular season after signing a letter of intent earlier in the week to play for a Division I baseball program?
He throws a no-hitter and leads league-leading Fallon to a sweep over second-place Spring Creek on the road.
Baylor Sandberg signed a letter of intent April 22 to play baseball for Sacramento State, a member of the Western Athletic Conference in baseball and a nonleague foe of the University of Nevada. For most of the other sports, the Hornets compete in the Big Sky.
Greenwave baseball coach Riley Horn said Sandberg is one of the hardest working players he has in the program.
“He never stops,” said the second-year coach who has led Fallon to a perfect record in league and 21-5 overall. “From last year to this, the jumps he’s made — even his strength and velocity and command — really stood out to a lot of people.”
This year, though, has been an encore from the 2023 season. Last year, he was named the 3A East Player of the Year and 3A North Co-Player of the Year, and then selected to the All-State First Team.
“He’s an easy guy to recruit,” Horn said. “He has good grades. They (Sacramento State coaches) saw him play. You can feel the aura around where he plays.”
Sandberg made a good impression for the scouts. Horn said the Greenwave senior pitched against Spanish Springs a 5A school, and dominated the Cougars.
Not to mention, Sandberg’s bat has been hotter than a pine tree in a forest fire. His batting average is .506 with 37 runs, 41 hits, 30 RBI, six doubles, eight triples and two home runs.
Sandberg said Sacramento State’s baseball program made a good impression on him. The Hornets pitching coach, John Wente, spent time talking to Sandberg, and the Fallon infielder also liked the facility.
“I’ve always loved baseball better than the other sports as a boy,” he said. “I've been good at baseball, and last year I made a big jump.”
With some days off before next week’s regional playoffs at Spring Creek, Sandberg is taking the next leg of his journey in stride.
“This season I’ve been playing well. My pitching is much better, and my command is much better,” he said.
Sandberg also thanked his parents for allowing him to sign and play with a D-1 program.
“He’s a good athlete, and you don’t realize how good of an athlete he is until he’s playing,” said retired Greenwave football coach Brooke Hill, who coached Sandberg for three years.
Although Fallon came up short this year in football, the Greenwave posted a 7-4 overall record, 5-2 in league. Sandberg was co-most valuable player in the Northern 3A.
Hill, Horn, the Sandbergs and other Greenwave supporters said they will be “taking the road trips” to Sacramento to see Sandberg play. The Hornets had a winning season last year and are three games below .500 this year after dropping three games to Tarleton (Texas) State University over the weekend.
The team plays strong nonleague opponents such as the Cal Bears, Stanford, USC and Fresno State. So far this year, the Hornets have won all four of their games against Nevada with a fifth game scheduled May 7.