Roundup: Atwater goes extra innings to defeat Central Valley to extend winning streak.
Make it nine wins in a row for the Atwater High baseball team as the Falcons pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Central Valley 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Ballpark.
Jacob Weiss led off the ninth inning with a single and stole second base. With one out, Jakob Faulk hit a ball that was misplayed, allowing Weiss to come around with the winning run.
“They found a way to win,” said Atwater coach Jarrod Pimentel, whose team is off to their best start in his 12 years leading the program.
The Falcons opened Central California Conference play last week with a pair of wins over El Capitan. Atwater is now 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the CCC.
“We played some good teams and we’ve played pretty well,” Pimentel said. “We’ve played Sierra, Oakdale and Lodi.”
The Falcons battled back from a 2-0 deficit with two runs in the fifth inning. Nathaniel Silva drove in a run with a one-out single and Faulk reached on an error with two outs that allowed Silva to score to tie the Hawks at 2-2.
Silva pitched the first eight innings for the Falcons, giving up just two runs on four hits. The Atwater ace struck out five.
“He made a lot of big pitches,” Pimentel said. “He kept batters off balance and he pounded the strike zone. He’s been our guy all year.”
Buhach Colony 6, Merced 1 in Atwater — Antonio Cortez pitched a gem, striking out 14 batters and giving up just one unearned run on one hit in seven innings.
The Thunder (7-1 overall and 3-0 CCC) scored all six of their runs in the second inning. The rally started with a pair of walks, a drag bunt and two sacrifice flies.
Dhelahn Tilghman went 3-for-4 at the plate for BC and Brandon Ruiz tripled and drove in a run.
El Capitan 9, Golden Valley 3 in Merced — Tarak Davuluri collected two hits and drove in four runs as the Gauchos (1-2 CCC) defeated the Cougars. Dylan Webber added two hits and three runs for El Capitan and teammate Chase Minor pitched into the fifth inning to pick up the win.
Boys Volleyball
Buhach Colony 3, Atwater 0 in Atwater — Thay Vang recorded 13 kills as the Thunder outlasted the Falcons 25-18, 25-7, 25-10 on Monday night. Drew HIll picked up 16 assists for Buhach Colony (9-6 overall, 4-2 CCC).