Manteca will play for second section baseball banner in 3 seasons

Manteca High School will play for its second Sac-Joaquin Section baseball championship in three seasons after beating Vista del Lago of Folsom 1-0 on Wednesday to sweep the best-of-three series at McAuliffe Memorial Ballparks in Sacramento.

The Buffaloes, who won the 2014 Division IV section banner and went on to be named a state champ by Cal-Hi Sports, will play for the Division III crown against Christian Brothers of Sacramento at 6 p.m. Monday at Tony Zupo Field in Lodi.

With the teams locked in a scoreless tie for 5½ innings, Manteca broke through in the bottom of the sixth.

Jake Menasco led off with a single up the middle and was bunted to second by Mitch Balmut. Ronaldo Tijero and Kyle Rachels each were hit by pitches to load the bases, and Tyler Graves-Kelso grounded into a fielder’s choice that resulted in Menasco being cut down at the plate. Brett Kovacs drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch that forced in the winning run.

Graves-Kelso retired the side to clinch the victory. He pitched seven innings, gave up three hits and four walks and struck out four.

“This was a great baseball game,” Manteca coach Neil MacDannald said. “I’m proud of how we grinded against (Landon) Mitchell. He’s very good, one of the best we’ve seen all year.”

Mitchell, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound right-hander, was coming off a complete-game, two-hit, nine-strikeout performance in a 5-1 win over Pioneer of Woodland on May 19.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 12:21 AM with the headline "Manteca will play for second section baseball banner in 3 seasons."