MC Baseball takes two from Sequoias

Junior College baseball is a tough sport to hold momentum from game to game.

Win or lose, with a couple days usually spaced between contests, good teams tend to put the previous ballgame behind it long before taking the field the next time out. Friday afternoon presented a rare opportunity for the Merced College baseball team to shake up that dynamic.

The Blue Devils and College of Sequoias failed to decide Tuesday’s three-game series opener before darkness halted the action. The game was resumed at Blue Devil Field on Friday afternoon with MC batting in the top of the 18th. The Blue Devils wasted little time, pounding out three runs and securing the 10-7 victory.

Chris Pedretti’s squad didn’t let up from there. The Merced bats just kept hitting, turning Friday’s regularly-scheduled first-place battle into a 13-3 laugher. The two-game swing now gives the Blue Devils (18-9, 10-1 Central Valley Conference) a three -game edge over the Giants (19-9, 7-4) and Reedley (7-4) in the conference standings.

“With the way the games were set up, it would be tough for the momentum to not carry over into the second game,” Pedretti said. “It could have gone either way. That was a concern before the game. If you don’t win the first one, then you got 20 minutes to get ready for the next one.

“That first inning of the second game was huge. As much as they’re trying to battle, to go down four runs right after the loss is hard.”

After managing just one run in eight extra innings on Tuesday, Merced had no issues pushing people across the plate on Friday.

Jesus Duran got the good vibes going with some two-out magic in the top of the 18th. His RBI double helped the Blue Devils push across three runs and take a 10-7 lead. Derek Molina worked a quick bottom half of the inning to earn the win.

The 20-minute break in between contests did little to cool the MC bats down as it quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Ryan Frakes (2 for 2, 2 runs, 2 RBI) opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly. Coleton Horner (2 for 3, 2 runs, 2 RBI) and Victor Tiscareno (2 for 3, 2 RBI) followed with back-to-back home runs.

The Blue Devils were just getting started. Every member of the starting lineup picked up a hit as Merced got at least one hit in every inning and put at least two runners on in seven of the eight innings. MC tacked on two runs in the third and eighth innings and broke the game open by hitting through the order in a four-run fourth

“It definitely was different. I’ve never started a one-inning game before,” said Lawrence Anderson, who was 3 for 3 with a double. “Getting that win just helped us going into the next one and we rode that momentum all the way through.

“We’ve got a good offense this year. It helps to know if one guy isn’t on, the one behind him is just as likely to get the job done. We’ve got guys that can really play that can’t even get in the lineup right now. That depth helps us out tremendously and we showed what we can do when everyone is swinging well like today.”

The early lead helped ease starting pitcher Evan Estes’ burden.

The right-hander tiptoed his way out of trouble in the first after walking the bases loaded with one out. He induced what looked like a sacrifice fly to left field, but the Blue Devils appealed to third and the runner was called out for leaving early. The unconventional double play got Estes out of the jam unscathed.

His only blemish ended up being a solo home run by Rudy Vasquez to lead off the second inning. The sophomore found a rhythm after that retiring nine of the last 11 batters he faced before exiting for precautionary reasons after he tweaked his groin. Tyler Casteel came on in relief, yielding two unearned runs on three hits in four innings and Kaito Yoshida shut the door in the ninth.

Merced will look for the sweep at home on Saturday at 1 p.m..

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 9:26 PM with the headline "MC Baseball takes two from Sequoias."