Pitman roughs up Beyer’s ace to advance in section baseball playoffs

All year long, when Beyer right-hander Micah Hall has strode to the mound, the Patriots could have penciled in a “W” in the scorebook even before a pitch was thrown.

If that were indeed the case, then for the first time this season the Patriots would have had to turn the pencil upside down and erase on Monday.

Pitman High chased Hall after four innings and beat Beyer 7-2, advancing to Wednesday’s night’s winners’ bracket game against either top-seeded St. Mary’s (Stockton) or No. 4 Tracy in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I South tournament at Klein Family Field.

“It was a little motivation for us,” said Pitman shortstop Matt Carrigg, who was well aware of Hall’s 12-0 record and tattooed the lanky hurler for a run-scoring triple in the third. “I was sitting curveball and he hung it a little bit.”

Carrigg, the hero of Pitman’s 4-3 win over Gregori last Thursday with a game-tying homer in the bottom of the seventh, drove in the tying run with his three-bagger. He then scored to make it 3-2 when Coleton Horner’s swinging bunt was fielded by third baseman Matt Williams, whose only play was at first.

That was all Pitman pitcher Zach Wichman needed.

“Just another day at the office,” said Wichman, who counts Hall as a close friend from playing travel ball together for the NorCal Valley. “Most of us know a bunch of their players, so this was a home-away-from-home rivalry game.”

The curveball was an especially effective weapon for Wichman.

“As soon as I found out that I could put the curveball wherever I needed it, whenever I needed it, it made it a lot easier against a power team. It was easier to get through the heart of their order.”

While Beyer’s offense sputtered – the Pats stranded a runner at third in the first and second innings and had a leadoff hitter reach in the fourth and fifth but was thrown out trying to steal each time – Hall said the blame for the loss was his.

“I beat myself today,” said Hall, now 12-1 with a 1.61 ERA. “When you don’t make pitches and leave balls up, anybody can hit the ball like that. This one is all me.”

Beyer’s season now rests on the left arm of junior Kevin Duffy. And that’s just fine with him.

“I’ve just got to go out and get them,” said Duffy (5-2, 2.67), holding a bag of sunflower seeds and spitting shells on the Klein Family Field concourse, looking thoroughly unfazed by his assignment. “I’m mentally there.

“We’re a good enough ball club to come back from a loss like this. I’ve played with a lot of these guys for six or seven years, and we’re strong enough mentally and physically to come back.”

No. 3 Beyer must come back Tuesday to face the loser of the Tracy-St. Mary’s game. Pitman (24-5) gets a well-deserved day off.

“We haven’t won anything yet,” said Pitman coach John Acha. “But it sure beats having to come back (Tuesday).

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Pitman roughs up Beyer’s ace to advance in section baseball playoffs."