Modesto JC’s Machado pitches shutout against American River
If any baseball team deserves a dose of positive reinforcement, it’s the Modesto Junior College Pirates.
They rallied around a two-hit shutout by left-hander Eddie Machado on Thursday to defeat American River 6-0 at the MJC park. Machado, sharp with his control after a rough outing last week against San Joaquin Delta, struck out five, walked none and faced only one batter over the minimum in an efficient 92 pitches to blank the Big 8 Conference’s last-place team.
That ARC team (11-15, 3-8) beat Modesto on Tuesday 3-2, however, so the Pirates (10-14-1, 4-7) had vowed to get even. They followed Machado’s lead – he worked quickly and consistently got ahead in the count – and led from the first inning to the end.
“I had a lot of command with my fastball and other pitches today,” said Machado (3-2), who yielded only a single and double to American River right fielder Alex Gaskin. “We had a good day with a lot of popups and groundouts.”
Modesto’s problems this season haven’t come from its starters. Machado, Tyler Arnsberg and Brent Montgomery have given their team chances to win in almost every outing. Arnsberg lost to Delta last week and, four days later, Montgomery went a heroic 101/3 innings before he and his teammates fell in 11 innings to the Mustangs 3-1.
“The seventh, eighth and ninth are championship innings. We just haven’t had enough luck there to finish games,” Machado said. “Delta (25-0, 11-0) is ranked No. 1 in the country for a reason.”
Still, Modesto swept Cosumnes River two weeks ago and showed it can compete against the best last week. The Pirates gained the upper hand against ARC in the first on William Reeder’s two-run single. Leadoff man Josh Miguel (3 for 4, three runs) scored on Jacob Cooper’s sacrifice fly in the third.
The Pirates continued to pull away in the fourth on Jacob Cooper’s RBI single and Damien Arteago’s bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Reeder (3 for 5) completed his big day with a run-scoring single in the sixth.
High school baseball
Beyer 3, Enochs 2 at Enochs – The Patriots scored two runs in the top of the seventh for a come-from-behind victory over the Eagles at Dick Windemuth Field. Chris Alonzo singled to bring home Matt Ryan and Jordan Pugh for the go-ahead runs. Pitcher Kevin Duffy pitched around an error in the seventh to keep the Patriots (10-4, 5-1) alone atop the Modesto Metro Conference.
Gregori 11, Davis 1 at Gregori – The Jaguars pounded out 12 hits and got solid pitching from Anthony Dugo, who went the distance and struck out nine while allowing just three hits.
Turlock 9, Davis-Yolo 8 in Sacramento – The Bulldogs (10-5) completed play in the Boras Baseball Classic with a 9-8 victory over Davis-Yolo. After Turlock’s Cody Cornell gave up three in the top of the first, the Bulldogs came back and scored six in their half of the frame and never trailed again. Tate Soderstrom, Tanner Espindula and Tristan Palmer had two hits apiece for Turlock.
Excel 11, Big Valley Christian 0 in Modesto – The Lions were limited to just one hit in this Central California Athletic Alliance matchup with the Pumas. Both teams now stand at 5-3 in the CCAA race. Pitcher Jon Bradley, the lone senior in BVC’s starting nine, had the lone hit for the Lions.
Central Catholic 7, Weston Ranch 3 in Stockton – The Raiders evened their record at 7-7 overall and 3-3 in the Valley Oak League. Central Catholic is now tied for third place in the conference with defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division champ Manteca. Nate Clark led the Raiders offensively, going 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored.
Sierra 7, Manteca 4 at Sierra – Mateo Hernandez was 3 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs to help keep the Timberwolves (4-0) undefeated in Valley Oak League play.
Los Banos 8, Ceres 5 at Los Banos – The Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth for a come-from-behind win over the Bulldogs. Chris Corral was 3 for 4 for the Tigers while Merrik Price had two hits in three trips for the Bulldogs.
High school softball
Gregori 4, Enochs 3 at Enochs – This much is clear: The Eagles want no part of facing sophomore Mehana Johns with the bases loaded in the last inning of a tie game.
Johns, who clinched the MMC title last season with a walk-off single against Enochs, delivered another game-winning hit with the bases full to sink the Eagles on Thursday. Jasmine Temple had a two-run homer in the sixth for the Jags, which tied the score 3-3. The teams now have matching 8-4 overall records and 4-1 league marks, but Gregori holds the tiebreaker.
Gregori’s Maddie Marsh outdueled the Eagles’ Elisa Perez, who had her streak of consecutive scoreless innings snapped at 37.
Oakdale 11, Sierra 4 at Oakdale – The defending Sac-Joaquin Section champion Mustangs pounded out 15 hits, with the Hackbarth sisters totaling eight. Kindra and Maddi Hackbarth each were 4 for 4. Kindra had a triple and scored four runs, while Maddi had a double, two triples and six RBIs. Freshman Grace Green earned the win over fellow frosh Linsey Walljasper.
Beyer 7, Modesto 3 at Modesto – Patriots sophomore Brittney Meyer went 5 for 5 with an RBI and three runs scored in an MMC win over the Panthers. Destiny Guerrero contributed three hits, which included a double and a triple, to Beyer’s cause.
This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 11:15 PM with the headline "Modesto JC’s Machado pitches shutout against American River."