Carrigg’s seventh-inning HR lifts Turlock’s Pitman to playoff baseball win over Modesto’s Gregori
Gregori skipper Rob Steves looked into his dugout, at all the somber faces, and asked, “Wouldn’t you go to war with the group right there?”
Steves was nothing but proud of his Modesto Metro Conference co-champions, who fell to second-seeded Pitman 4-3 in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday night in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I South baseball playoffs.
Matt Carrigg hit a wind-blown home run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score 3-3, igniting a rally that resulted in a game-winning, bases-loaded walk by Daren Finney.
“The baseball gods,” said Steves, shaking his head, still looking into his dugout. “I thought it was a fly ball. But even then, the score was tied. I thought we were going to keep playing.”
Gregori reliever Justin Cox entered in the sixth, replacing workhorse Jeff Gray, who left with a 3-2 lead after throwing 112 pitches.
“He would’ve stayed in,” said Steves of his ace. “But a game isn’t as important as his health.”
Cox, tasked with getting the final four outs, struck out Anthony Encalade to end the sixth. Leading off the seventh, he elevated a fastball and Carrigg decided to take a chance.
“It was the first hitable fastball I’d seen all day,” said Carrigg, who entered the contest with a .466 batting average. “I was sitting dead red.”
At first, the ball appeared likely to stay in the park. But a crisp Delta breeze kept pushing the ball toward the wall. It snuck over, just inside the foul pole, for a poke of about 325 feet.
“Well, the wind picks up here the later it gets,” said Pitman coach John Acha, whose Pride (23-5) advances to play MMC co-champ Beyer on Monday at 4 p.m. at Klein Family Field. “We were hoping one of our guys might get a hold of one and he did it at exactly the right time.”
Softball
Del Oro 9, Gregori 7, at Sacramento – The eighth-seeded Jaguars, trailing by five runs with just three outs remaining in their season, rallied for three runs but could not complete the comeback in a loss to the No. 9 Golden Eagles in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs. Jasmine Temple had a home run and scored three times for Gregori (17-7), while Nikki Alexander was 3-for-5 and Mehana Johns was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Del Oro jumped out to a 6-0 lead, highlighted by a five-run third, before the Jags cut the margin to 6-4 with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth. However, the Golden Eagles scored three times in the top of the sixth to make it a five-run margin.
Benicia 11, Downey 1, at Sacramento – The Knights’ return to the playoffs after a 23-year absence was short-lived. Benicia scored a run in the first and three in the second to take control. Haley Viscovich had the lone hit for Downey, which ends the season at 11-12.
Merced 8, Rodriguez 4, at Sacramento – Rheanne Lewis led off the first inning with a solo shot and Madilyn Nickles blasted a three-run bomb in the second inning to give the Bears an early six-run lead as they went on to defeat Rodriguez of Fairfield in the first round of the Division II playoffs at the Sacramento Softball Complex. Fifth-seeded Merced has 23 home runs this season and will battle No. 4 St. Mary’s (Stockton) on Friday.
St. Mary’s 4, Atwater 0, at Sacramento – The Falcons had runners on base all game but couldn’t cash in with the big hit against Rams freshman ace Carley Morfey as their season ended. Sophomore Eileen Martinez had two hits for Atwater (15-12). For St. Mary’s, Taylor Mamola went 3 for 3 with a home run, a double and two runs scored. Mamola’s homer led off the second and gave the Rams (24-4) a 1-0 lead.
Division V, VI playoffs – Four-time defending champion and tops-seeded Hughson won a pair of games on Wednesday, beating Marysville 7-2, then defeating Linden 11-5 in a rematch of last year’s D-V semifinal. The Huskies play No. 3 Ripon Friday at 5 p.m. at Arnaiz Softball Complex in Stockton. The Indians beat Calaveras 6-1 and Bear River 3-2 to advance. In D-VI, No. 1 Mariposa and No. 2 Waterford meet for the section championship on Saturday at noon (Field 2).
This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 12:51 AM with the headline "Carrigg’s seventh-inning HR lifts Turlock’s Pitman to playoff baseball win over Modesto’s Gregori."