Merced College rallies late to force third game before being eliminated by Canada College
The Merced College baseball team extended its NorCal Regional playoff series to a deciding third game against Canada College with a dramatic ninth-inning rally and extra-inning win to start the day on Saturday.
However, the No. 8 seeded Blue Devils ran out of magic in the final game as the No. 16 Colts scored six runs in the seventh inning to defeat Merced College 8-3 at Blue Devil Diamond to advance to next week’s super regional.
The Merced College players could only look on from their dugout as Canada’s players celebrated down the right-field line.
“Those were three really tough ball games,” said Merced College coach Nate Devine, whose team finished the season with a 28-15 record. “They played really good defense, their pitchers were really good.”
Devine made sure to thank each of his players after the game had ended.
“We came out here and fought and stayed together,” Devine said. “At the end of the day that’s what matters most to us. The message is I’m proud of them.”
Merced College entered Saturday needing to defeat Canada College twice after losing 2-1 in 11 innings on Friday in game one of the three-game playoff series.
It looked like the Blue Devils season might end hours earlier on Saturday as Colts starter Danny Guevara Castro took a 3-0 lead into the top of the ninth inning.
Three times Merced College was down to its final out and battled to keep its season alive.
Jacob Solorio finally got the Blue Devils on the board with a two-run homer over the right-field fence to cut Canada’s lead to 3-2.
Nate Silva then battled with two strikes and crushed a double to put the tying run at second base. Logan Baptista then worked a walk on a 3-2 count to put runners on the corners.
Canada right-hander Frankie Pellegrini came in to replace Castro and surrendered a single to Jayden Huerta that plated Silva with the tying run.
Merced College starting pitcher Dylan Webber turned in an amazing performance, pitching 11 innings.
“I was a little tired and then we scored and that pumped me up,” Webber said. “I felt like brand new.”
Webber gave up three runs on eight hits and struck out six. The right-hander threw 130 pitches.
“I just knew that if I was anywhere in the zone my team was going to back me up the entire game,” Webber said. “They were going to make the plays that needed to be made.”
Devine called Webber’s outing an old-school performance.
“That’s been him and Brett (Maddock) all year,” Devine said. “Gutsy performance after gutsy performance. He was kind of mowing through them. We keep their pitch counts down early in the season so when we do need to extend them a little bit we can.”
Evan Franconi hit a two-run homer in the top of the 12th inning to give the Blue Devils a 5-3 lead and reliever Jaret Mello retired the side in order in the 12th to pick up the save as Webber improved to 11-0 this year.
The momentum carried over early in the final game as the Blue Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning as Cooper Winton and Jacob Reyna drove in runs.
The Blue Devils led 3-2 after four innings and had opportunities to score more against Canada left-hander James Courshon. Merced College left five runners on base through the first four innings.
That opened the door for the Colts later as they sent 12 hitters to the plate during a six-run seventh inning that gave Canada an 8-3 lead. Ryan Lapuyade delivered a big two-run double to highlight the rally.
“It’s easy to say it came down to one inning, but we needed to do a better job offensively off of (Courshon),” Devine said. “To his credit he kept us at bay after giving up a quick two or three runs.”
This time there was no late comeback for the Blue Devils and they were coping with the sudden end of their season.
“Last year’s team was great but this year’s team, I’ll never forget it ever,” Webber said. “I love every single one of these guys. Each one of them are my brothers and I’m going to miss these guys each year after this.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2023 at 9:15 PM.
