Volunteers open state tournament with win

Rollo Adams gambled and it paid off.

The Merced Volunteers coach decided to hold back his ace, Mitchell Miller, and opted to throw left-hander Brandon Esau against the Paramount Pirates in the opening game of the American Legion State Tournament.

Esau, Alex Ortega and Efrain Del Rio pitched well, and the Volunteers (26-20) battled from behind most of the game before sweating out an 8-7 win at Borman Field in Yountville.

“After we arrived here, I just felt I’m used to saving my top guys until later in the tournament,” Adams said. “I just didn’t see anything from the other team that didn’t make me feel like we couldn’t throw Esau and compete.”

That doesn’t mean Adams wasn’t second-guessing himself when Paramount took a 2-0 lead in the third inning or answered the Volunteers’ five-run fourth inning with four runs in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead.

However, a pair of intentional walks by Paramount came back to haunt the Pirates in the seventh inning.

Merced’s Lawrence Anderson led off the inning by reaching on an error. With Anderson on second base, Pirates coach Frank Bignami opted to walk Vols slugger Del Rio.

After Carlo Del Real bunted both runners into scoring position, Pirates starter Daniel Hernandez intentionally walked Evan Hanneman, who was 2 for 2 with two doubles, to load the bases.

Hernandez was able to strike out Miller for the second out. Bignami then brought in Jose Montalvo in relief, and he walked Tanner Pellissier and Craig Bettis to force in two runs to give Merced a 7-6 lead.

“I wasn’t surprised they intentionally walked Efrain,” Adams said. “I would have done the same thing the way he was hitting the ball today. I was shocked they walked Hanneman to load the bases. Tanner and Craig had two great at-bats to draw those walks.”

The Volunteers added an insurance run in the eighth when Del Real hit a 3-0 fastball to right field for a single to score Del Rio to extend the lead to 8-6.

The run proved to be big when Paramount scored a run in the top of the ninth on a Randy Buenrostro single to cut the lead to 8-7. Del Rio struck out Montalvo to end the game with two runners on base.

“I didn’t feel good out there,” Del Rio said. “I think it was the nerves. There was a lot of pressure, knowing they had guys on base. Rollo came out and told me if I’m going to get beat to make them beat me to the right side.”

Adams believes it’s the first time the Volunteers have opened the state tournament with a win since 2006. Adams had to use 15 of the 16 players on his roster as Merced had to scratch and claw for everything.

The Volunteers got four doubles by Del Rio, Christian Witt, Pellissier and Josh May during their five-run fourth inning.

“It was the second time we were seeing their pitcher,” Hanneman said. “We knew what he had and we were starting to catch up to him.”

But the 5-2 lead didn’t last long as Paramount chased Esau from the game with its four-run fifth inning.

“That’s been us,” Adams said. “It seems like any time we do something we do it the hard way. I think the schedule we played this summer helped us.”

Esau and Ortega combined to give the Volunteers eight innings, with Ortega getting the win in relief. After giving up two RBI singles in the fifth, Ortega pitched scoreless frames in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

“I was definitely nervous coming in, but I knew I had a job to do,” Ortega said. “I didn’t have my best stuff at the start in that fifth, but I told myself when I got in the dugout that I had to relax and act like I’ve been here before. After that, I was all right.”

The Volunteers will be back in action Friday in a winners bracket game against the winner of Thursday’s late game between the Chico Nuts, the defending state champs, and the Long Beach Rams.

Miller is expected to start on the mound unless Adams decides to gamble again.

“I think this next game will determine who is in the driver’s seat for this tournament,” Adams said.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Volunteers open state tournament with win."