Merced Volunteers fall to Chico in American Legion state title game

Carlo Del Real turned in a gutsy performance on the mound in his final game as a Merced Volunteer.

The former Le Grand High School star threw a complete game, limiting a high-powered Chico Nuts offense to three hits in nine innings.

However, defensive miscues, one that led to the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, proved to be the difference as Chico defeated Merced 3-2 to repeat as the American Legion State champion Sunday morning at Gorman Field.

The loss ended Del Real’s five-year run with the Volunteers and prevented Merced from reaching the Western Regional in Boulder, Colo. It was Merced’s second one-run loss to Chico in three days.

“Both games were fun to watch,” Del Real said. “You had good pitchers on the mound, and it’s fun to see who can make the plays when the pressure is on. Whichever team makes the plays and comes through with runners in scoring position is going to win. We fought hard, and that’s all you can ask.”

Chico right-hander Jackson Berry is a big reason the Nuts are champs again. He pitched a four-hitter and struck out 12.

“Merced’s a great team, and Rollo (Adams) does a great job,” Chico coach Tom Stevens said. “You know when you’re playing Merced they are not going to be overwhelmed, and that’s big at this level. They had two kids who threw great ballgames against us, and we had two kids who threw great ballgames against them. It just came down to which team could scratch their way to a run and win.”

The Volunteers lost to San Mateo 11-7 on Saturday night but reached the final after winning a protest. Adams protested San Mateo was ineligible for the tournament because it didn’t complete its insurance paperwork by the deadline.

Tournament directors sided with Adams, and San Mateo was sent home. That led to chaos after the game, as fans and players from San Mateo and Merced had to be separated multiple times before security arrived.

“It’s not how I wanted to get there, but it’s the card I played,” Adams said.

One reason Adams held back from throwing Del Real on Saturday is he knew there was a good chance of the Volunteers playing Sunday whether they won or lost.

Chico struck first with a sacrifice fly by Andrew Shippelhoute in the third inning.

Merced (27-22) answered in the fifth, as it finally got the big hit in a key situation. After going 3 for 23 with runners in scoring position in the previous two games, Efrain Del Rio singled in two runs to give the Volunteers a 2-1 lead.

The fifth proved to be the turning point in the game. After Del Rio’s single, Merced still had two runners on with one out, but Berry struck out the next two hitters to keep the deficit at one run.

Berry then got into a groove, retiring 13 hitters in a row before Christian Witt (3 for 4) hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth. Berry struck out eight during that stretch, including five in a row. He threw 122 pitches.

“Berry pitched a gutty game,” Adams said. “He was exactly what we told the kids he would be. He got that slider going. I thought he got a little tired when we scored those runs, but he got the second energy. Once again, we couldn’t get that extra hit.”

The Nuts tied the score 2-2 in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Quinn Spring.

Samson Abernathy reached on an error to start the eighth when a throw by Merced shortstop Kobe Nguyen skipped past Del Rio at first. Cleanup hitter Ryan Steindorf then beat out a bunt for a single that put runners on the corners. Marcus Wilhite followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Nuts a 3-2 lead.

“We really emphasize taking care of the ball,” Stevens said. “We try to play the game the right way. We’re going to put pressure on you. We have our three-four-five guys bunting.”

Del Real retired the final six batters he faced to keep the deficit at 3-2. He struck out three.

“I finished north of 120 pitches,” Del Real said. “I come from a small school. I threw a lot of pitches at Le Grand, so I wasn’t worried about that. I wanted to stay out there and keep us where we were at and give us a chance.”

The Volunteers’ first baserunner since the fifth came with two outs in the ninth as Witt singled to right. Darin Dupont was inserted as a pinch runner, and with pinch hitter Brent Brewer at the plate, Dupont was thrown out trying to steal second for the final out.

As the Nuts dog piled, Adams and Dupont argued with the umpire that Dupont was never tagged.

“It easily could have been us winning,” Adams said. “Carlo showed up big-time. During my pregame speech, I said he just needs a little help. If we helped him, we would play two games today. We played Chico head to head twice in this tournament, and we beat ourselves.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Merced Volunteers fall to Chico in American Legion state title game."