Monday painted very different pictures for the Turlock and Pitman variety baseball teams as they marched on in their respective Central California Athletic League campaigns.
At the Pitman High campus, the Pride played back and forth ball with Gregori through three innings before the floodgates opened and ultimately lost by an 11-1 score in six innings.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, led for the entirety of their road game against Modesto and cruised to a 20-0 win in five frames.
With their wins, Turlock (6-1, 8-5-1) and Gregori (5-2, 12-3) remain separated by a game in the conference standings. Downey was also a winner on Monday with an 8-3 victory against Enochs, and are tied with the Jaguars in second place. Meantime, the Pride dropped to 3-4 in league play and down to fourth place.
Each of the three-game sets will continue Wednesday and wrap Friday. The Bulldogs will host the Panthers for the second game before getting back on the road for the finale. The Pride will first travel to Gregori on Wednesday, then return home for the third contest. All games are slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
This week is particularly important for the Pride as it is nearly a given that the Bulldogs would seep the Panthers, who are winless in the CCAL through seven games and 1-13-1 overall.
“We just have to answer back,” said Pitman skipper Andy Walker. “We just have to get back to work at practice and we’ll go from there, try to answer back Wednesday.”
Small ball was the key for Gregori in the series opener, with Canon Buttell leading off the game with a walk, stealing a base, and coming around to score on an Izaia Perez RBI double. The Pride tied things at one in the second inning when Elias Mendez singled and an errant throw from the outfielder passed by the Gregori catcher and allowed Ben Vilhauer to run in from third base.
From then on, it was all Jaguars. They reclaimed the lead with an RBI single by Avyn Redoble in the third inning, then tagged the Pride for three runs in the fourth with the help of three fielding errors, two hits, a sac-fly and a wild pitch from starter Noah Cervantes. The senior pitcher exited surrendering five runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks, while punching out five.
“Noah has been real good for us all year, and when things don’t go right, it’s usually by getting behind in counts early,” Walker said. “And that happens. He’s at his best when he gets ahead quick and attacks, and that just wasn’t happening today.”
The Jaguars scored four more runs in the fifth backed by five hits, including a bunt single and two infield singles. The lead extended to 10 runs in the sixth with RBI knocks from Buttell and Perez.
“We haven't played like this all year, to be honest with you,” Walker said. “I mean, we've lost games, but they've been close and it wasn’t like this with some of the errors and miscommunication on the field. (Gregori) had a lot of good things go their way. Every ball they hit landed in a hole somewhere. I think they had four hits between our third and shortstop this game, which, you know, those things don't always happen throughout the game. And it's the way it goes. You tip your cap. They got it done today and we didn't.”
Over in Modesto, the Bulldogs saw a power surge from sophomore Camero Henard, who led all players with seven RBI. Most of his damage came by way of the long ball, with a two-run blast in the second inning and a grand slam in the third. Those marked his first two varsity career home runs. Every other Bulldog in the starting lineup nabbed a hit on the afternoon.
On the bump, senior starter Jaron Rocha tossed four innings of scoreless, three-hit baseball, striking out five in the process. Junior Landen Runyan threw a perfect sixth inning to shut the door on the Panthers.
