Beyer’s Hall shuts out Gregori as Pats earn Modesto Metro Conference’s top seed

Beyer High School pitcher Micah Hall ran his record to 11-0 and propelled the Patriots to the Modesto Metro Conference’s No. 1 seed with a 2-0 win over Gregori on Wednesday at the Downey High School field.

With the victory, Beyer becomes one of four baseball teams eligible for one of the three byes that will be awarded to league champions from the Sac-Joaquin Section’s south region. Should the Patriots receive a bye, they would not play again until May 14.

Gregori, the No. 2 seed, and Enochs, the third-place team, will play on Monday.

“This was a playoff game with a playoff type of atmosphere,” Gregori shortstop Tyler Janitz said. “And Micah is the type of pitcher we’re going to see all the time in the playoffs.

“And, honestly, the playoffs are all about matchups. We got the bye last year and got (eventual south champion) St. Mary’s in the second round and lost to them 8-5. So, all I’ll say is, I’m glad we lost today rather than last week.”

Wednesday marked the second time this season that Hall has defeated the Jaguars. He beat them in their first meeting, 6-2. Gregori beat the Pats 12-4 two days later.

Hall and Anthony Dugo were locked in a pitchers’ duel for the first three innings.

In the top of the fourth, the Jags’ Roberto Flores hit to junior third baseman Matt Williams, who was just able to get a glove on it and hold Flores to a single.

After Flores swiped second, Cody Patterson moved him to third with one out. Hector Guerrero then tried to squeeze Flores home with a bunt, which landed about 18 inches in front of home plate. Catcher Anthony Enwiya easily scooped up the ball and tagged Flores out as he tried to cross the plate. Enwiya threw out Guerrero trying to steal second.

In the bottom of the fourth, Beyer scored the game’s only runs.

With one out and Chris Alonzo on second, Jack Large hit a laser to short that Janitz dove to his right to knock down. His only play was to try to get Alonzo heading for third, but his throw was a hair late. Jordan Walls was issued a free pass to set up a force out at any base. Ryan Frakes hit a low-inside fastball on a 1-1 count and third baseman Dominic Carrillo could only knock it down with his chest. He thought about throwing to try to cut down Alonzo, but his best bet was to step on the bag and force Large into the second out.

Williams, the next hitter, looked at a high fastball, a pitch location that Beyer coach Dominic Duran disagreed with. With two strikes on Williams, Dugo again threw a fastball up in the zone. This time, Williams swung and laced a single to center that plated Walls for a 2-0 Beyer lead.

“The first strike of the at-bat was a high fastball and I wasn’t going to leave another one up there,” said Williams. “With Micah on the mound, we knew we didn’t need a lot of runs, but we’ll take whatever we can get. The more runs the better.”

Hall made quick work of the Jaguars the rest of the way.

“I took that 2-0 lead and ran with it,” Hall said. “I only throw a two-seamer and I just concentrate on movement. My velocity was up today, but I focus on location more than anything.”

The Sac-Joaquin Section playoff brackets will be released Thursday around 4:30 p.m.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Beyer’s Hall shuts out Gregori as Pats earn Modesto Metro Conference’s top seed."