El Capitan’s mistakes costly in Atwater baseball tournament

Defensive miscues proved too much to overcome for the El Capitan baseball team.

The Gauchos committed 12 errors in two games as they lost 8-1 to San Leandro and 7-6 to Redwood Christian in eight innings on Wednesday at the 56th annual Fran Oneto/Atwater-Winton Lions Easter Tournament at Firemen’s Memorial Ballpark.

“It was a very rough day,” El Capitan coach Aaron Ruiz said. “You can’t commit 12 errors in two games and expect to win. I thought in the first game (against Redwood Christian) we overcame the mistakes and put ourselves in position where we could still win. In the second game, we couldn’t battle back.”

San Leandro starter Michael Hidalgo took advantage of a wide strike zone, fanning 10 batters in limiting El Capitan (7-8) to three hits and one unearned run.

After watching the Pirates (9-5) score two runs in the first with three hits and two errors, the Gauchos answered with a run in the bottom of the inning. Sammy Mora reached on a one-out single and moved up to third base on two errant pickoff throws by Hidalgo. Fernando Rodriguez then singled to left to plate Mora, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Hidalgo cruised thereafter, retiring 14 consecutive hitters until Kobe Nguyen singled with one out in the sixth inning.

“(Hidalgo) had a good fastball and he hit his spots,” Rodriguez said. “They played good defense behind him. He was dealing out there.”

El Capitan starter Braiden Ward did his best to keep the Gauchos in the game. He held the Pirates to the two first-inning runs until they were able to break through for three more in the sixth inning.

Hidalgo led off the inning with a double and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Jarron Omololu and Gerald Nervis added RBI singles in the inning to extend the lead to 5-1.

Hidlago added a two-run single off of El Capitan reliever Rafael Mercado in the seventh inning to help the Pirates open up a 9-1 lead.

In the first game, El Capitan scored five runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-5 lead, but the offense went silent the rest of the way. Sammy Mora and Rodriguez drove in runs with singles during the fourth-inning rally.

Five errors and six walks cost the Gauchos. Four of the six walks came around to score.

“We’re a better team than that,” Rodriguez said. “This was not one of our better days.”

Livingston 1, St. Joseph 0 – C.J. Avila was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning to force in the winning run. Cole Brown pitched a four-hit shutout to win a pitching duel against St. Joseph’s Satchel Fisher.

Redwood Christian 9, San Leandro 6 – Matt Shasky collected two hits and drove in three runs as Redwood Christian won its first of two games on the day to eventually earn its way into tonight’s championship game.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 10:02 PM with the headline "El Capitan’s mistakes costly in Atwater baseball tournament."