Fresno City blanks Merced College, 9-0

The Merced College and Fresno City College baseball teams have routinely been the Central Valley Conference’s top squads for the last decade.

They forged an intense rivalry based on their proximity and some well-played baseball. The series often produces closely contested ballgames that are decided in the final at-bat.

None of that applied to Tuesday night’s contest between NorCal’s second- and fourth-ranked teams.

The Blue Devils struggled in all facets of the game, walking 13 batters and hitting two more while producing just three hits at the plate. The Rams took full advantage, cruising to a 9-0 victory at Blue Devil Field.

The win was the first of a three-game series between the two schools this week, and puts Fresno three full games ahead of Merced in the CVC standings.

“We just didn’t play very well tonight,” Blue Devils coach Chris Pedretti said. “Their guy pitched well. He kept us off balance. It’s the kind of game you have to find a way to win 2-1 or 3-2. It’s kind of hard to do that when you give them 15 free bases, though.”

Fresno City (17-3, 12-1 CVC) scattered just six hits, but constantly threatened offensively thanks to an MC staff that couldn’t consistently find the strike zone. The only inning the Rams recorded more than one hit was the third and it proved the difference in the game.

The inning started with a leadoff walk to the Fresno eighth hitter. Catcher Tucker Salles then bunted a sacrifice attempt back to Blue Devil pitcher Blake Cederlind , who unsuccessfully tried to cut down the lead runner, putting two on and one out.

Cederlind fought back, getting quick outs on another sacrifice bunt and a line drive. A wild pitch opened the scoring and Christian Funk followed with an RBI single two batters later. Scott Silva delivered the big blow, launching a fly ball high into the gusting wind for a three-run home run and a 5-0 Ram lead.

It was all the support Fresno starting pitcher Connor Brogdon was going to need.

Utilizing a wicked changeup to complement a plus fastball, the 6-foot-6 sophomore yielded only a handful of quality swings to MC (14-8, 9-4 CVC). Brogdon limited the Blue Devils to three hits while striking out seven in seven complete innings.

Despite Brogdon’s excellent effort, MC had plenty of opportunities to chip away at the lead.

The Blue Devils put runners on in seven of the nine innings, but stranded nine and went a collective 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

“You can’t really put this loss on anyone,” MC first baseman Daniel Hermosillo said. “The pitchers obviously struggled, but we didn’t do anything at the plate either. We failed to execute as a team.

“We just didn’t come ready to play today.”

Despite recording just two hits in the final six innings, Fresno City expanded its lead.

Three walks and a fielder’s choice pushed across a run in the fifth inning. The Blue Devil bullpen would give up six more walks in the seventh and eighth innings, three of which came with the bases loaded to make it a 9-0 game.

The series will pick back up on Thursday night in Fresno and conclude on Saturday afternoon back in Merced.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Fresno City blanks Merced College, 9-0."