Volunteers crush Ed Stewart in Area 3 opener

The Merced Volunteers may be getting hot at the right time.

The Volunteers opened the American Legion Area 3 Tournament by racking up 12 hits and 14 runs in a 14-4 win over the Ed Stewart Mets on Friday afternoon at Merced College.

The win puts the Volunteers (23-20) one win away from clinching a berth in next week’s State Tournament in Yountville.

“The first inning really set the tone for us,” Merced coach Rollo Adams said. “I think it got everyone relaxed in the dugout. We got down to playing baseball. I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats. Our strikeout total was way down.”

The Volunteers pounced on Mets starter Dom Piscano for six runs in the first as the left-hander struggled to find the strike zone.

Piscano hit Josh May and walked Lawrence Anderson to set the table for Merced slugger Efrain Del Rio, who launched a three-run home run over the fence in right-center.

“I was looking offspeed there and I just took that (fastball) the other way,” said Del Rio, who has eight homers this summer. “I just thought it was going to be a double in the gap and the ball just kept carrying.”

Two more walks in the first and an RBI double by Tanner Pellissier helped the Volunteers open up a 5-0 lead.

Coming up with the clutch hit with runners on base has been a struggle for the Vols this summer. That wasn’t the case against the Mets.

Merced had six hits in its first 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position on Friday. That helped the Volunteers open up a 13-2 lead after six innings.

Del Rio and May did most of the damage with the dynamic duo combining for six hits, five runs and eight RBIs.

May tripled in a pair of runs in the third inning to answer two runs scored by Ed Stewart in the top of the third as the Volunteers extended their lead to 7-2.

May, who sat out this spring for Merced with an elbow injury, has been a force as a leadoff hitter for the Volunteers.

“I like leading off a lot,” May said. “Usually the leadoff hitter starts it off and gets the whole team going. It’s fun being in that role.”

May went 3 for 4 with two triples, four RBIs and three runs against the Mets.

“Ever since Josh returned from his Tommy John surgery, he’s been a sparkplug for our offense,” Adams said. “We expect big things from him every time he steps in the box.”

Del Rio reached base all five times on Friday and went 3 for 3 with two runs and four RBIs.

Lawrence Anderson, Evan Hanneman and Pellissier all added two hits each and Kobe Nguyen scored three runs for the Volunteers, who have won five consecutive games.

Carlo Del Real started and pitched five innings to pick up the win. Del Real gave up just two runs on two hits. The former Le Grand High ace pitched out of a jam in the second inning with three consecutive strikeouts to strand two runners in scoring position.

Alex Ortega pitched the final three innings to pick up the save.

Merced will face the winner of Friday night’s elimination game between Ed Stewart and Lodi Post 22 on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the championship game at Merced College. Friday night’s winner will have to defeat Merced twice.

“I definitely think this tournament is going to give us momentum going into Yountville,” May said. “It’s going to help get us ready for the competition that we will face there. We didn’t have this tournament last year and we went into Yountville kind of dry.”

Former Merced High ace Mitchell Miller is expected to start on Saturday.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Volunteers crush Ed Stewart in Area 3 opener."