Gregori baseball skipper Steves plays pair of aces to advance in Sac-Joaquin Section D-I playoffs

Stuck between two aces, Gregori baseball coach Rob Steves could have gambled and split the pair.

Instead, he used both in the Jaguars’ 3-2 victory over Lodi on Monday, ensuring the Modesto Metro Conference co-champions will continue their hunt for a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship.

But in this season of paralleled success for the Jaguars’ starting pitchers, who would get the start: Jeff Gray, with his sparkling 9-0 record and team-high 75 strikeouts; or Anthony Dugo and his minuscule 1.19 ERA?

That decision was made for Steves by a nasty flu bug that scratched Gray from his start against Beyer on May 6, a game that ultimately decided the MMC’s top seed. Dugo started in his place, and on four days of rest, the right-hander with the whipping fastball was given the ball again in a pressure-packed playoff game against Lodi.

But Steves kept Gray, a burly right-hander, on stand-by.

“Jeff was coming off the flu, so he had the flu when we played Beyer,” Steves said. “Dugo started against Beyer and we put him on four days’ rest knowing that we would bring Jeff in to close this thing down because there is no tomorrow.”

Dugo (7-3) pitched into the sixth, working around bouts of wildness. He walked three, skipped three balls to the backstop and plunked one batter. Dugo had just two strikeouts but let the defense work behind him.

The Jaguars avoided a catastrophic inning in the fourth with an unorthodox triple play. Shortstop Tyler Janitz also turned in two web gems: a diving spear on a ground ball up the middle and an acrobatic, aerial turn on a double play.

Though his team played from behind most of the game, Steves never lost confidence in his club because of the Jags’ yeomen-like effort in the field.

“There were great defensive plays. It was a good game. We never lost confidence. I liked where we were, because our pitching and our defense allowed us to do that. We weren’t chasing two or three runs,” Steves said. “Chasing three runs is a different story, but to answer the questions – no, we never lost confidence.”

Gray entered the game with one out in the sixth inning, inheriting a sticky situation. He limited the damage, retiring five of the six batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 the seventh.

Steves’ decision to play both aces paid off. The Jaguars notched their 20th win of the season and punched their ticket for Klein Family Field, site of the rest of the Division I South tournament.

“I did not want to lose this game with one of our best on the bench,” Steves said of Gray. “It was a tough decision but worked out. It worked out.”

Gray will likely start Wednesday’s elimination game against No. 2 Pitman on a pitch count.

The teams met at the Pedretti Tournament in March with Gregori pulling off a 6-3 victory over the eventual Central California Conference champion.

The Jaguars used three pitchers in that win – Xavier Mitchell, Cody Patterson and Justin Cox – resting Gray and Dugo. Chances arem the Pride won’t be so lucky this time around. ​

If Monday’s playoff game was any indication, Steves doesn’t want to get caught with an ace on the bench.

“We’ll have to go out and evaluate his pitch count, but hopefully he can start on (Wednesday) . We don’t know,” Steves said of Gray. “We have some other guys who can Band-Aid it.”

No. 3 Beyer vs. No. 6 Lincoln: The Patriots (20-6) will have to dispatch a hometown team with momentum blowing in its sails. The Trojans (22-6) surged into the second round with a walk-off win over Merced on Monday. Lincoln scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, sealing the 3-2 victory on Cody Valeros’ base hit up the middle.

Beyer brings its own momentum into this elimination game. The Modesto Metro Conference co-champion has won eight games in a row and likely will pitch Micah Hall, a 6-foot-4 senior with a spotless 11-0 record and 1.22 ERA.

No. 12 Enochs vs. No. 4 Tracy: Enochs (10-16) used a blustery day to its advantage, upsetting No. 5 McNair with four-run outbursts in the third and fourth innings. Tyler Butterfield cleared the bases with a triple in the third, and Jordan Davidson provided a two-run triple in the fourth.

With the win, the MMC will have three teams at Klein Family Field. Enochs on Thursday will play No. 4 Tracy (19-9), which trailed Edison early in its play-in game but woke up the bats late in a 15-5 victory.

No. 8 Turlock vs. No. 1 St. Mary’s: Guess who. For the 10th time in six years, Turlock (18-9) and St. Mary’s (17-11) will meet in the Division I South tournament. The Rams hold a distinct advantage over the Bulldogs, who advanced with an 11-5 victory over Bear Creek on Monday. St. Mary’s has won seven of the nine meetings, including three times in the final (2010-11, ’13).

This story was originally published May 12, 2015 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Gregori baseball skipper Steves plays pair of aces to advance in Sac-Joaquin Section D-I playoffs."