Fresno City College baseball posts best start in program history, eyes title run

Fresno City College baseball has given Fresno County a team worth tracking every day: a 32-3 record, a 15-0 road mark and the No. 1 spot among junior college programs in California. The Rams’ .914 winning percentage overall, paired with an 18-1 conference record and a .947 mark in league play, has them off to the best start in program history and in position for a serious postseason run.

The numbers explain why the Rams have separated themselves. Fresno City led the Central Valley Conference in batting average at .313, on-base percentage at .430, slugging percentage at .433 and earned run average at 2.82. That balance has made the team difficult to beat at home, where it was 15-2, and nearly impossible to catch on the road, where it had not lost.

Pitching has become the clearest reason the Rams have stayed at this level. Bowen Salyards, last season’s Central Valley Conference pitcher of the year, was 8-0 in 2026 with a 2.60 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 62.1 innings pitched. Last year, he struck out 98 batters and walked only 23 in 16 regular-season games, production that helped establish him as one of the most reliable arms in the region. Pitching coach Eric Solberg, who has been with Fresno City for 38 years, said this may be the deepest staff he has ever coached. Coach Mitch Karraker has pointed to that depth and the team’s chemistry as the kind of combination needed for another championship push.

The roster also carries a strong local thread. Wyatt Johnson, a Clovis North graduate, has been part of the starting rotation, and Solberg coached Johnson’s father 43 years ago. Todd Johnson later became an All-American at Fresno State, adding another link between Fresno City’s current run and the Central Valley’s baseball pipeline. That kind of continuity matters in Fresno, where college baseball success often travels through local high schools, Fresno State and the junior college ranks.

The bigger picture is hard to miss. Fresno City has won five CCCAA baseball championships, in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1972 and 1992. The Rams’ three straight titles from 1961 through 1963 remain one of only two back-to-back-to-back championship runs in CCCAA history. With this season’s pace, Fresno City is not just chasing another trophy. It is building the kind of momentum that can anchor Central Fresno pride and keep the region’s next wave of recruits looking at the Rams as a place where winning has real history behind it.