Missed opportunities cost Merced in loss to Pitman

With Pitman High right-hander Jack Wheeland struggling with his command early, the Merced hitters had an opportunity for some big innings.

Wheeland hit three batters in the second inning to load the bases. He also walked two batters in the third inning to help the Bears load the bases again.

Merced came up empty both times.

Wheeland wiggled out of some early jams and the Pride went on to defeat the Bears 7-2 on Monday afternoon at Merced High as the Central California Conference season resumed after a two-week hiatus.

The Bears (7-11, 1-4 CCC) left 10 runners stranded in the game.

“We’ve got to clutch up,” Merced coach Justin Parle said. “We’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. These guys know it. But saying you’re going to do something and doing it are two different things. I think their guy turned it up a notch and we didn’t get the job done.”

Both teams broke through for a run in the first inning. Mac Cabero led off the game with a double to right field off of Merced starter Cole Huie. Cabero then stole second and scored on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning.

The Bears answered in the first with a two-out triple by Tanner Pellissier that scored Grant Deal, who led off the first inning with a walk.

Merced had a big opportunity to put more runs on the board in the second. With one out, Wheeland hit Julian Verdin and Rene Pantoja back-to-back to put two runners on. After a strikeout, Wheeland hit Deal to load the bases.

However, Wheeland struck out Nathaniel Rios to leave the three runners stranded.

Trailing 2-1 in the third inning, Merced again loaded the bases as Brent Brewer and Timothy Zaragoza drew walks and Clayton Hall singled.

Wheeland was able to escape again by getting Verdin to hit into an inning-ending double play.

“Jack has a good fastball and sometimes early in the game he tends to overthrow the ball,” said Pitman coach John Acha, whose team improved to 12-7 and 5-0 in the CCC. “He needs to settle down and he usually does. Looking at his line, he gave up one run in the first and didn’t give up anything again until the fifth.”

The Pride cashed in our their opportunities. Brent Hagen hit a two-run double in the fourth inning to extend the Pride’s lead to 4-1.

Leading 4-2 in the seventh, Pitman tacked on three more runs to put the game away. Brandon Pacheco delivered the big blow with a two-run double with two outs to stretch the lead to 7-2.

“It was nice having a couple more runs there,” Acha said. “There was nothing comfortable about a 4-2 lead. Especially coming down here with the wind blowing. You get a guy on and a pop up can quickly get out of here. Brandon Pacheco came up big with that double.”

Wheeland gave up just two runs in five innings to pick up the win. Antonio Reyes pitched the final two innings to pick up the save.

Hall led the Merced offense with three hits. Pellissier added two hits.

The Bears will travel to Pitman on Wednesday for the second game of the series at 4 p.m.

Atwater 8, El Capitan 5 in Merced – The Falcons erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh inning to erase a two-run deficit to upset the Gauchos (11-8, 4-2 CCC).

Atwater loaded the bases with a walk, a hit batter and a bunt single in the top of the seventh. Cody Rhoads then singled in a run and the Falcons (4-15, 2-5) tied the game at 5-5 on a wild pitch. Jacob Faulk highlighted the five-run rally with a two-run double to right that gave Atwater a 7-5 lead.

Rhoads finished with three hits and Danny Hernandez pitched a complete game for the victory.

Chase Minor had two hits for El Capitan and Sai Davuluri drove in a pair of runs.

Turlock 9, Golden Valley 2 in Merced – The Bulldogs pounded out 11 hits as they improved to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in the CCC. Wyatt Pearson had two hits and drove in both runs for the Cougars (8-13, 2-5 CCC).

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Missed opportunities cost Merced in loss to Pitman."