Stout outduels Mello as Pitman picks up CCC win

There’s not much time in between pitches when Pitman’s Tyler Stout and Golden Valley’s Brady Mello take the mound. Both pitchers waist little time walking around the mound or shaking off a series of signs.

It makes for a quick game.

That was the case on Monday afternoon as the two right-handers locked into a pitcher’s duel.

The Pride broke through for the first run of the game in the fourth inning against Mello and tacked on three more in the sixth as Pitman defeated Golden Valley 4-1 in a game that took only 1 hour and 43 minutes at Doug Fister Field.

“It’s the same thing with both guys,” said Pitman coach John Acha. “Against good teams, they’re like, ‘Just give me the ball and let me throw the next pitch.’ That’s their mentality.”

Both pitchers carved up the opposing lineup early.

The Cougars (6-10 overall, 2-4 Central California Conference) had the first good opportunity to score in the second inning when Joe Flores led off with a double to left field.

However, GV was unable to bunt him over. Even worse, the Cougars failed to make contact after the failed bunt attempt as Stout recorded back-to-back strikeouts and then got a fly out to end the threat.

The Cougars got a runner to second base with one out in the third, but the next two hitters struck out.

“We didn’t do a good job of executing and that’s the type of things you need to do against a good pitcher,” said Golden Valley coach Scott Solis. “We get a guy on second and then we can’t get a bunt down. You’ve got to execute against good pitching to be successful.”

Mello matched Stout zero for zero through the first three innings, but the Pride (6-5, 4-0) broke through in the fourth with a clutch two-out double from Brett Hagen that scored Gerardo Ramos from first base. Ramos was running on the pitch, which allowed him to score to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.

“With two strikes we got (Ramos) in motion in case something happens and Brett put a ball in play the other way,” Acha said. “It worked out and (Ramos) was able to score.”

Stout went six innings to get the win. The junior struck out five and walked just one. He only gave up one run on four hits.

Mello kept the game at 1-0 before his defense let him down in the sixth inning.

Brandon Pacheco reached on an error and Jordan Levezzo singled to start the inning. Mello then appeared to get Hagen to hit a double-play grounder to shortstop, but the Cougars were only able to get the out at second. It was the second time the Cougars were unable to turn a double play.

Cole Carrigg followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0 and Mello hit Conor Havens to load the bases and his day was over.

Hagen scored on a wild pitch from reliever Wyatt Pearson to extend the lead to 3-0 and Mac Cabero delivered a two-out single to plate Carrigg with the fourth run of the game.

“We’re one mistake away,” said Mello, who struck out seven in five and 1/3 innings. “A better angle on a fly ball, we field a ball and that’s one less run. We’re just not coming up with the clutch hits, but we’re fighting. That’s a good sign. Pitman is one of the better teams in our league and we fought with them for six innings. We’ve got to learn to fight for seven.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Stout outduels Mello as Pitman picks up CCC win."