Merced County All-Stars win in walk-off fashion

Down to its last three outs and facing a sixth consecutive loss to Stanislaus County, the Merced County All-Stars staged a furious comeback Saturday night.

A throwing error and heads-up baserunning by Livingston’s Cole Brown allowed Merced County to tie the score and set the stage for Lawrence Anderson. The Merced graduate jumped on a 1-0 pitch, bringing home Atwater’s Chewy Duran with a walk-off single as Merced County rallied for a 3-2 victory at Blue Devil Field.

Stanislaus, which had won the first five meetings in the annual game, took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. Dakota Draper (Hughson) and Bradley Nightengale (Central Catholic) provided run-scoring singles off Los Banos’ Josh Gould. That was it for the offense until the ninth as pitching dominated.

Merced’s Mitchell Miller, Buhach Colony’s Andrew Mitchel, Gould, Sonora’s Tyler Casteel, Dos Palos’ Efrain Del Rio and Atwater’s Derek Molina combined to limit Stanislaus to two runs and six hits.

The Merced County offense finally got going in the ninth.

Kory Woods (Buhach Colony) opened with a single, and Eddie Avila (Livingston) followed with a walk. Brown then grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Merced County scored when Duran hit a hard ground ball that was knocked down by the first baseman and caromed to Gregori’s Tyler Janitz at second. Duran beat the throw to first as Avila scored and Brown moved to third.

After Duran stole second, Atwater teammate Omar Sanchez grounded out to short. Duran broke for third on the throw, but Brown stayed at third. As soon as the first baseman fired to third, Brown broke for the plate to tie the score. Anderson followed with his winning single, and the celebration was on.

This story was originally published June 21, 2015 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Merced County All-Stars win in walk-off fashion."