Birthday boy Escobar, big bats help Beyer crush rival Enochs

The Beyer High baseball team applied early pressure in the rubber match of its Sylvan Avenue series with Enochs, and then watched its bitter rival crack and crumble.

The Patriots seized control of the Modesto Metro Conference race with a shortened 14-1 win over the mistake-prone Eagles on Friday at Dick Windemuth Field.

With series victory over Gregori and Enochs, the defending champion Patriots (12-3, 8-1) have put themselves in prime position to repeat.

Josh Escobar completed the run-rule victory by striking out two in the bottom of the fifth inning. Escobar is 4-0 this season with four complete games.

“I have so much confidence right now,” said Escobar, who celebrated two other milestones in the dugout after the game: his 17th birthday, complete with a cupcake crushed on his face; and a prom proposal.

“My defense is always there for me, and I know if I get a 1-2-3 inning, my offense is going to put runs up for me. That makes me so comfortable out there the on the mound.”

While he doesn’t overpower batters, Escobar was in complete control of his fastball and curve — “and that’s enough to beat this team,” he said, punctuating the Patriots’ 12th victory in 15 games.

“Guys like Josh, he’ll tell you he doesn’t throw 100 mile per hour, but he’s able to hit spots and he keeps guys off-balanced,” Beyer coach Dom Duran said. “They didn’t know what to expect all day. Yeah, maybe it’s going mid-70s, but nothing goes straight.

“He’s a very, very smart pitcher. Very cerebral. He got in two 3-1 counts, but other than that, he was ahead of most guys.”

Enochs (10-7, 7-2) has lost two straight after starting conference 7-0 and winning the opening game of the series 6-5.

Ryan Davis was tagged with the loss, but the lefty was doomed by a shaky defense. The Eagles committed four errors behind him, leading to an early hook.

Davis gave up eight runs on five hits and two walks.

“There is a lot of season left; a lot of games. Unfortunately, this was the biggest one of them all,” Enochs coach Chris Butterfield said. “As it happened on Monday, when we took advantage of a ton of Beyer mistakes and won, they took advantage of a ton of our mistakes and kicked our butt. They played better and deserved to win this game.”

The Patriots triggered the rout with a five-run second inning and loaded the bases in four consecutive innings, forcing Enochs to play catch up.

On Friday, that was an almost impossible task.

Chris Alonzo and Chase Fetzer drove in three runs apiece, while Ryan Frakes (2 for 2, three runs) reached base in all four plate appearances.

Reigning Modesto Metro Conference MVP Jack Large was 3 for 4 with three runs scored and Trevor Ravelli highlighted the second-inning charge with a two-run single.

“When things start to snowball, that’s when you know things are going good,” said Alonzo, whose soft single in the fourth induced the 10-run mercy rule.

“People are going to make errors when the ball is hit hard, that’s for sure,” he added. “The whole game balls were coming off the barrel solid. They had a few mishaps but those count for two or three runs — not 14.”

Enochs struck the first blow in the bottom of the first when Eli Martinez (walk) and scored on Jordan Davidson’s high chopper to shortstop.

The lead — or execution or good vibes — wouldn’t last long.

Large led off the second inning with a sharp single to center. The Stanislaus State-commit charged around the third-base bag with the tying run on Frakes’ looping single to right field.

The Patriots would load the bases on an error and infield single by Michael Scott. Fetzer, the hero in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory, would make it 2-1 with a blooping single over the second baseman’s head.

Ravelli provided the big knock. After Alonzo drew a bases-loaded walk, Ravelli laced a two-run single into the left-center gap to make it 5-1.

Beyer chased Davis in the third inning with three more runs on two more errors.

The flood gates came open in the fourth as Beyer pieced together another five-run rally. Fetzer and Alonzo each poked two-run singles during the frame to induce the mercy rule and set the terms for the final two weeks of the season.

“Our goal was to win two out of three and we didn’t do it,” Butterfield said. “Now Beyer is in the driver seat for a league title and we’re hoping we can get some help.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Birthday boy Escobar, big bats help Beyer crush rival Enochs."