Bulldogs get the breaks to rally past Thunder
With Turlock’s Nick Avila and Buhach Colony’s Andrew Mitchel locked in a pitcher’s duel Thursday afternoon, it became clear that one mistake could cost either team the game.
The Thunder made two.
Back-to-back errors to start the seventh inning opened the door for a three-run rally as the Bulldogs held on to defeat the Thunder 5-4 in a Central California Conference opener at Buhach Colony.
“I think we played pretty well up until that seventh,” said Thunder coach Greg Wakefield, whose team dropped to 3-1 overall. “And I have to take some of the blame for what happened.”
What happened in the seventh was Turlock’s Peyton Dunseth hit a grounder down the first-base line that was bobbled by Buhach Colony first baseman Austin Ekizian. Ekizian went to a knee to try to pick up the ball and shovel it to Mitchel covering, but he fumbled the ball again, allowing Dunseth to reach.
Why did Wakefield take some of the blame?
“We had a broken sprinkler-head down the first base line and there was a lot of water there earlier today,” Wakefield said. “I thought I had fixed it up enough this afternoon, but the ball was bouncing this way and that way down the line. I think we could have still made the play, but we got a little anxious when we didn’t field it cleanly.”
Marcus Lopez then laid down a bunt toward first base and the throw from Ekizian sailed past the second baseman covering, allowing the runners to advance to second and third with no outs.
Jon Temple followed with an RBI single to give Turlock a 3-2 lead and chase Mitchel from the game. Tristan Palmer drove in a run with a grounder to second and Cody Cornell added a big insurance run late in the frame with an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-2.
After losing several big bats to graduation from last year’s team, Turlock (5-2) has to find different ways to score.
“All the big boppers are playing somewhere else,” Bulldogs coach Mark de la Motte said. “We’ve got to scratch and scrape for runs, throw strikes and execute.”
After giving up a first-inning run, Mitchel carved up the Bulldogs with 11 strikeouts before he was relieved in the seventh inning. He gave up just two hits after the first inning and four total.
Avila matched Mitchel, limiting the Thunder to six hits before leaving with two outs in the seventh. Buhach Colony’s Julien Sandoval chased Avila from the game with a two-run double that pulled the Thunder within 5-4.
De la Motte turned to Blaine Weber to close the game. Weber hit Mike Casso to put two runners on, but was able to get pinch-hitter Kory Woods to pop up to end the game.
This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Bulldogs get the breaks to rally past Thunder."