Merced Volunteers headed back to American Legion State Tournament

The Merced Volunteers fought through two games in triple-digit heat and survived the ejection of their coach that led to a little bad blood between the teams in a series that finished with just one umpire after the field umpire suffered a heat-related illness late in Game 3.

When the dust finally settled, the Volunteers punched their ticket to the American Legion State Tournament in Yountville by sweeping a doubleheader Sunday at San Joaquin Delta College.

Merced (25-13) rebounded from a 12-2 loss Saturday in the opener of the best-of-three series to defeat the Stockton Mets 13-5 and 6-1 to win the Area 3 championship.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said Volunteers left-hander Josh May, who pitched eight innings for the win in Game 3. “I have a great time playing with these guys, and I can’t wait to play with them again in Yountville.”

Merced coach Rollo Adams complained his team had no fight or grit Saturday, and the Volunteers needed to win twice Sunday to extend their season.

The Volunteers set the tone early Sunday when the first nine batters got hits and scored in a 10-run first inning. Merced sent 15 hitters to the plate against Stockton starter Kegan Wallen in the first.

Christian Witt doubled in a run and scored twice in the inning. Tanner Pellissier, Josh May, Brent Brewer, Jake Alarcon and Seth Reyes drove in at least one run during the rally.

“We brought the intensity,” said Merced leadoff hitter Lawrence Anderson, who went 4 for 8 in the two games and scored three runs. “That was really the difference. We wanted to come out and establish that we’re not the team that we were (Saturday).”

The Volunteers welcomed back Anderson and Pellissier. Anderson missed Saturday’s game with a foot injury, and Pellissier was out because of an illness.

The big first inning was more than enough support for Merced right-hander Efrain Del Rio, who went the distance. Del Rio gave up one earned run, surrendered four hits and struck out eight with seven walks.

May dominated in Game 3, allowing six hits and one run in eight innings.

“I just went out there and did the best I could,” May said. “I felt comfortable on the mound and I relied on my defense.”

The Volunteers again jumped out early with three runs in the first against Mets starter Daniel Saragoza. Anderson led off with a single and Witt doubled him in for a 1-0 lead.

Clayton Hall added an RBI single in the inning, and Seth Reyes drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 3-0.

The Volunteers tacked on a run in the third when Alarcon tripled with two outs and scored on Hall’s single to make it 4-0.

After Stockton scored in the fourth, Merced answered with small ball. Kobe Nguyen and Anderson led off with back-to-back bunt singles. Nguyen scored on a wild pitch to stretch the lead to 5-1.

Tempers flared in the seventh. Anderson walked and advanced to third with two outs on a ground ball to second base. That’s when Anderson saw Stockton catcher John Yancy vacate the plate and head to the dugout, apparently thinking there were three outs.

Anderson raced home, but after the play, the plate umpire said he called timeout and sent Anderson back to third.

That led to an argument from Adams and his ejection.

“All their players were walking off the field,” Anderson said. “I knew there were only two outs, so I took advantage of the situation. There was no timeout called. The home plate umpire hurried over and called me safe on the play. If he had called timeout, he would have stopped the play and told me to go back.”

The argument and ejection led to chirping back and forth between the teams. Anderson scored on a wild pitch and exchanged words with a couple of Stockton players.

The remaining Merced coaching staff had to calm the players, and there were no other incidents except for some shouting after the teams shook hands after the game.

“We told them to focus on what we need to do,” Merced assistant coach Andrew Jaurique said. “We had a lead, and we had a job to finish. We had to quiet the dugout.

“It’s tough. You’re talking 18 innings of baseball in 100-degree heat on this turf. I know some of their feet must be burning. It’s summer baseball. That’s why we go play in places like Las Vegas. I think that helps prepare us for this.”

The two games in the heat took their toll on the umpires. The field umpire was doubled over behind the Mets’ dugout after the eighth inning. The teams agreed to play the ninth inning with one umpire.

Pellissier pitched a perfect ninth.

“It means a lot to get back to Yountville,” Anderson said. “The last two years we were runners-up. I think this year if we play how we’ve been playing, this could be the year.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Merced Volunteers headed back to American Legion State Tournament."