Local digest: Pitman clinches at least a share of first CCC baseball title
Zach Wichman walked through the Pitman High School dugout and said to nobody in particular, “The tension is palpable.”
The pitcher was trying to address the elephant in the room: The Pride was in a tight spot, having blown most of a 6-0 lead against archrival Turlock. But reliever Donovan Bravo came in to get the save and Pitman held on for a 6-5 win that clinched the Central California Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed against the two-time defending champs.
Pitman (20-4) improves to 11-1 in the CCC, three games ahead of Turlock (14-9, 8-4) with three to play. The teams meet Friday at 4 p.m. at Turlock High School for the final game of their three-game set.
“Definitely very nerve-racking,” said Pride coach John Acha, a 1999 Turlock graduate who guided Pitman to at least a share of the title, the first in the program’s history. “But I wouldn’t expect anything else between us and the Bulldogs.”
Pitman scored six times in the second inning and appeared to be on its way to an easy win, especially with the way Wichman was throwing. The left-handed senior – who throws a fastball, curveball and change-up – faced the minimum over the first four innings before giving up a hit to Brandon Booz leading off the fifth. “I can’t tell you that one pitch was any better than the other. Through the first four or five innings, I could do anything.”
But in the sixth, Wichman loaded the bases without no outs and was relieved by Bravo, who gave up a bases-loaded walk to the first hitter he faced before inducing a run-scoring groundout that made it 6-2. Back-to-back singles by Booz and Bubba Moreno made it 6-4. Tate Soderstrom’s two-out single made it 6-5 before Bravo finally got out of the inning, stranding runners at second and third.
Turlock would load the bases again in the seventh and Moreno strode to the plate with two outs.
“Bubba Moreno is a very good friend of mine,” said Bravo. “I’ve known him for a long time. I knew he’d be ready to do whatever he had to do to get the win. He’s always competing.”
Moreno launched a pop up that catcher Coleton Horner had a bead on, but the ball squirted out of his glove and landed in foul territory, giving life to Moreno, who singled off Bravo about 10 minutes earlier.
“It would’ve been nice to make the last out in a big game like this,” said Horner. “I had faith that my defense would pick me up.”
On the very next pitch, Moreno hit a chopper back over the mound that Bravo was just able to snag. He fired to first to get the speedy Bulldog shortstop for the final out.
“I just didn’t execute,” said Moreno, who also played quarterback for the football team and guard on the basketball team. “But we gave it all we had, and didn’t back down. You love to see that in sports.”
Pitman needs to win one of its final three games – the Pride closes the regular season next week with two against last-place Golden Valley – to clinch the title outright. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, need to finish strong to fend off hard-charging Merced (7-5) for the league’s No. 2 playoff berth.
Softball
Gregori 12, Johansen 1 at Johansen – Nike Alexander was 4 for 4 with two triples and Samantha Shaffer was 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs as the Jaguars (9-1) rolled and remained a half-game behind Enochs (10-1). The teams meet Monday at Enochs in a match that could determine the MMC title.
Enochs 13, Modesto 2 at Modesto – Elisa Perez not only pitched a two-hitter against the Panthers, she was also 2 for 3 at the plate with a pair of doubles. Enochs teammates Alyssa Flores and Brooke Bettencourt each went 3 for 3. The Eagles will wrap MMC play on Monday when they host Gregori, which finishes league action Wednesday against Downey.
This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Local digest: Pitman clinches at least a share of first CCC baseball title."