Buhach Colony opens CCC baseball series with win over Pitman

Getting the first two outs in an inning wasn’t the problem for Pitman High School on Tuesday. It was the third out that proved to be difficult.

Buhach Colony scored all of its runs with two outs and opened a three-game Central California Conference series against the host Pride with an 8-1 win.

“We made some mistake pitches. I don’t know if we got too confident with two outs,” Pitman coach John Acha said. “When that happens, good hitters capitalize. (Buhach Colony) took advantage.”

The Pride’s two-out problems started early. Pitman starter Brett Hagen retired the first two hitters before the Thunder (9-10, 6-1 CCC) erupted for four runs in the first inning.

It started with a solid single by Logan Coe, then Kory Woods walked. Christian Witt fouled off a couple pitches with two strikes and then connected on a 2-2 pitch deep to left field for a two-run double.

“He was throwing me mostly up,” Witt said. “I was just trying to hit the ball. That’s all I was trying to do. You can’t over-think it.”

Ubaldo Romo and Ruben Garcia followed with run-scoring singles for a 4-0 lead.

“That’s a great inning,” Buhach Colony coach Greg Wakefield said. “We had some really good at-bats. Every ball was hit hard. It started with Logan Coe, and then the next guy hit it hard and then the next guy. We did a lot of damage with two outs today.”

Wakefield opted to go with experience on the mound and handed the ball to Woods, who allowed one unearned run, five hits and one walk in five strong innings. Mike Casso closed with two scoreless innings.

“I rotate those two guys,” Wakefield said. “Last week, it was Casso, then Woods. ... Kory looked really good over the weekend at practice. I like putting in the senior in that situation.”

The Pride (12-7, 4-3) managed only one first-inning run off Woods after the first two batters reached base. Dylan Roberts drove in the run on a ground ball to first, but Anthony Encalade was stranded at third.

The Pride was 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t come through with the sticks today,” Acha said. “We had the table set a couple times, but we weren’t able to capitalize. If we come through in those opportunities, we could have stayed in the game. They kept the momentum with them the whole game.”

Meanwhile, Buhach Colony delivered with runners in scoring position, going 6 for 12.

Casso and Coe each singled in a run in the fourth inning, and Witt drew a bases-loaded walk for his third RBI to extend the Thunder lead to 7-1.

Romo doubled in a run in the sixth to give Buhach Colony an 8-1 lead. Romo, Coe, Witt and Garcia each had two hits as the Thunder cranked out 12 hits total.

“That first inning got us pumped up and set the tone for the rest of the game, especially scoring those runs with two outs,” Witt said.

The series continues Thursday at Buhach Colony at 4 p.m.

“Our thing has been finding that consistency,” Acha said. “We have good players on this team. We just have to find consistency.”

Turlock 9, Merced 2 at Merced – Brandon Booz had three hits, including two doubles, and knocked in three runs as the Bulldogs improved to 11-8 overall and 7-0 in the CCC. Jon Temple had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs for Turlock.

Damon Treadwell pitched six innings for the victory, allowing two runs (one earned), five hits and three walks while striking out seven.

Merced fell to 11-8 and 3-4.

Golden Valley 4, Atwater 1 at Merced – The Cougars scored all four runs in the fifth inning to beat the Falcons (3-16, 0-7) for their first CCC win at Doug Fister Field. Brady Mello delivered the big blow with a two-run single for Golden Valley (2-16, 1-6 CCC).

Caleb Lopez pitched a one-hitter and struck out eight for the Cougars. The Falcons’ run was unearned.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 5:32 AM with the headline "Buhach Colony opens CCC baseball series with win over Pitman."