Beyer staves off elimination with 7-3 win over Bear Creek

Beyer High School staved off elimination from the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I South baseball playoffs with a 7-3 victory over Bear Creek on Tuesday at Pacific’s Klein Family Field.

The Patriots (23-5) play the loser of Tuesday night’s late game between St. Mary’s and Tracy. They’ll meet Thursday at Pacific in a 7 p.m. elimination contest.

Beyer starter Chase Fetzer was dominant against the Bruins (22-8-1), who fell to seven-time defending South champion St. Mary’s 4-3 in eight innings Monday night. The junior right-hander gave up an unearned run in the first and allowed just one hit, a one-out infield single in the fourth.

“I had an idea what Bear Creek was like,” said Fetzer, who struck out three and walked two in five innings.“My dad stayed late (Monday) night and watched them play.”

Apparently, Mr. Fetzer has a future in scouting. He provided info on which players were first-pitch attackers and to which field they liked to hit.

“He was so good it was hard to take him out after the fifth,” said coach Dom Duran, whose team fell 11-5 to Tracy on Monday. “He comes in with a swagger, like he owns the place, and it didn’t hurt that his changeup and slider worked masterfully today.”

In the first inning, Beyer looked a lot like the team that melted against Tracy. The Patriots committed four errors Monday and had three errors in the first against Bear Creek.

After Fetzer retired the first two hitters on four pitches, he threw four consecutive balls to No. 3 hitter Nathan Torres, who stole second and raced to third when catcher Matt Williams’ throw sailed into center field. Second baseman Tyler Orique retrieved Williams’ throw and his attempt to nail Torres at third was off the mark, allowing Torres to trot home with the game’s first run.

Cleanup hitter Ryan Cortez reached on the Patriots’ third error but was cut down trying to steal.

But it was was a momentary setback.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Trevor Ravelli was hit by a pitch and was balked to second. He scored the tying run on Jordan Walls’ double. Walls scored on a single by cleanup hitter Jack Large, who stole second and moved to third when the throw went into center field.

After Ryan Frakes struck out, Large scored when Williams reached on an error, making it 3-1. Williams came home on Fetzer’s double to left, and Fetzer scored on Michael Scott’s single for a 5-1 lead after one inning.

Beyer added two runs in the second. Chris Alonzo reached on a bunt single, and Ravelli followed with a single up the middle. After a double steal, Alonzo scored on Walls’ groundout to second, and Ravelli came home on an errant pickoff attempt by the catcher.

The Bruins mounted a small rally in the sixth, scoring twice off Ravelli before he recorded an out. But Williams nailed Torres trying to steal second for the first out, and Ravelli induced a popup and a liner to Orique to wiggle off the hook.

Ravelli walked the leadoff man in the seventh, then struck out the next three to close with a flourish.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 8:11 PM with the headline "Beyer staves off elimination with 7-3 win over Bear Creek."