Pitching shines as North wins Merced County All-Star Game

The pitchers seized the spotlight at the eighth annual Merced County All-Star Baseball Game.

Twelve different pitchers took the mound for the North and South combined and a pitchers duel ensued as the North held on for a 2-1 win at Merced College on Saturday night.

“For the most part it was all good pitching tonight,” said El Capitan senior Sai Davuluri. “Unfortunately, I gave up a run and we didn’t have many chances to score to get it back.”

The game started like it might be an offensive showcase as the North opened with three consecutive hits off Davuluri.

Los Banos’ Trent Malonee and Gustine’s Oliver Perez singled and then Buhach Colony’s Christian Witt won a long battle with Davuluri with a single to right to score Malonee.

“The pitching was really good tonight,” Witt said. “My first at-bat was against Sai and he gave me a run for my money. He threw all changeups. I just kept fighting them off with two strokes until I somehow managed to poke one through for a hit.”

Davuluri retired the next three batters to keep the damage to one run.

“The guys that got hits off me have bragging rights,” Davuluri said.

Los Banos’ Kody Cardoza got the start for the North and pitched three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. The Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year did have to pitch out of a jam in the third inning.

Mariposa’s Joseph Freitas doubled to right field to put runners on second and third with two outs. It looked like the South had tied it up with El Capitan’s Braiden Ward racing around the bases and crossing home plate. But the umpire ruling was the ball went out of play down the right-field line for a ground-rule double so Ward had to return to third base.

Cardoza then got Golden Valley’s Brady Mello to pop up to right field to end the threat.

“I just tried to throw strikes,” said Cardoza, who got the win. “I trusted me stuff like I have all season. I just tried to do what I always do. I stuck to my normal routine.”

Both teams just kept coming with pitchers.

Hilmar’s Treven Crowley, Los Banos’ Josh Gomes, Livingston’s Cesar Avila and Hilmar’s Zach Berberia combined to keep the South scoreless through eight innings.

Golden Valley’s C.J. Soza and Mello, Mariposa’s Leo Kari and Freitas and Le Grand’s Beto Marquez all pitched well for the South.

The the lack of runs didn’t keep the players from having fun.

In the South dugout rivals were working together and even borrowing gear.

At one point, Le Grand’s Mauricio Reyes even asked Freitas if he could borrow his Mariposa helmet.

“Yeah, but I’m going to tell everyone,” Freitas said.

“What happens on the field, stays on the field,” Reyes said.

When the South tried to rally in the ninth, Mello had a flag taped to his GV hat and wore gloves on both hands, which he called rally claws.

The rally claws almost worked.

The North tacked on an insurance run in the seventh inning when Atwater’s Jacob Faulk drew a walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Marquez to extend the lead to 2-0.

The South tried to extend the game late as Mariposa’s Michael Medinas and Ward hitting back-to-back singles off of Gustine’s Oliver Perez. Freitas then hit a ball to Avila at shortstop, who tagged second for an out, but his throw to first skipped out of play, allowing Medinas to score to cut the lead to 2-1.

However, with two outs and two on, Perez was able to strike out Dos Palos’ Gabriel Galindo to end the game. The North pitching staff limited the South to just five hits.

“Tonight was really fun. The team I was on bonded together really quickly,” Witt said. “It was also good to see some of the other guys on the other team who I haven’t seen in a while.”

A group of players were chosen from the Merced County All-Star Game to represent the county against a Stanislaus County All-Star team on Friday at Merced College at 7 p.m.

This story was originally published June 10, 2017 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Pitching shines as North wins Merced County All-Star Game."