El Capitan earns a wild baseball win over Los Banos

Whoever designed the baseball diamond at El Capitan High School was not a fan of catchers.

The vast expanse of space behind home plate looks far more like O.Co Coliseum than a typical high school ballpark.

It makes sound catching a priority and all but ensures at least one base on a wild pitch. It likely will be a feast-or-famine scenario for the Gauchos over the years as they’ll give teams as many runs as they get in return. But Friday afternoon, it was all feast.

El Capitan used two Los Banos wild pitches to score two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and break a scoreless deadlock. The Gauchos tacked on one more, and Tyler Skelton tossed a two-hit shutout for a 3-0 victory and a home-and-home split with the Tigers.

The teams are tied for second place in the Western Athletic Conference, one game behind first-place Ceres.

“We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game,” El Capitan coach Aaron Ruiz said. “We had a dude on the hill. They had a dude on the hill. Whichever team made the least mistakes was probably going to win.

“I felt like we were having better and better at-bats as the game went on and were able to get some guys on to take advantage of some of their mistakes.”

In an almost carbon copy of Wednesday’s meeting, neither team made many.

Skelton and Los Banos’ Chris Corral took advantage of a big strike zone early, racking up the strikeouts and matching each other goose egg for goose egg.

The Tigers’ (8-3, 3-1 WAC) best scoring opportunity came in the second inning when Josh Gould ripped a one-out double down the third-base line. Tyler Wilson looked like he’d gotten just enough to plate Gould on a looping line drive to shallow right field, but Gauchos second baseman Sammy Mora robbed him with a leaping catch.

Los Banos wouldn’t get another runner in scoring position the rest of the way.

“I was a little concerned since getting off of the bus with how flat we were,” Los Banos coach Pat Fuentes said. “This game is 90 percent mental, and that’s what it comes down to with these kids. We’ve got the talent, but if their heads aren’t in it, this is the kind or performance we’re going to give.”

The Gauchos (6-5, 3-1) weren’t faring any better against Corral (seven strikeouts), totaling one hit through four innings.

Things began to change in the fifth when Mora hit a one-out single. He advanced to third when a pickoff attempt kicked up the right-field fence. Johnny Vasquez followed with a walk, and both runners moved up on a wild pitch to open the scoring. Vasquez stole third and scored on another wild pitch to make it 2-0.

That’s all Skelton would need. He finished with six strikeouts and retired the last seven batters in order.

“I knew it was going to be a tight game, so I was just focused on making good pitches,” said Skelton who was 2 for 3 with an RBI double. “My defense made some big plays behind me early, and I was able to get in a little rhythm. LB is one of the top teams in the league, so I think for us to be right there with them for both games makes a statement.

“We might be young, but we’re talented and we’re ready to compete.”

Buhach Colony 7, Golden Valley 3 in Atwater – Chase Pennycuff allowed one hit in 41/3 innings of relief to earn the win as the Thunder (7-1, 3-1 Central California Conference) completed a three-game sweep of the Cougars (1-7, 0-4).

Brady Mello was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI in the loss for Golden Valley.

Turlock 8, Atwater 2 in Turlock – Atwater’s Derek Molina had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning, but the Bulldogs broke it open for good in the bottom of the inning.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 11:46 PM with the headline "El Capitan earns a wild baseball win over Los Banos."