Atwater pitcher Austin Conour grounds Pitman offense

Austin Conour realized pretty quickly he was feeling it.

The Atwater senior was able to pitch to the outside corner at will and, just as importantly, the plate umpire was giving it to him. That allowed the right-hander to live ahead in the count and force the Pitman lineup to hit his pitch.

And hit it the Pride did – straight into the ground early and often. Sixteen of the 19 balls Pitman put in play in Atwater’s 2-0 victory at Memorial Ballpark were grounders as Conour allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings.

“I don’t know if it’s because I don’t throw that hard or what, but they weren’t able to extend their arms when I hit the outside corner,” Conour said. “I missed a few times, but for the most part I was able to locate there and it felt like I was ahead in the count all game.

“I was able to get some ground balls, and my defense made some nice plays behind me.”

Conour had a small margin for error as Pitman southpaw Zach Wichman was also dealing.

The Falcons (10-8, 2-4 CCC) managed to get to him for a run in the opening inning but produced little offense thereafter.

After having a number of miscues exploited in Tuesday’s loss at Pitman (14-4, 5-1 CCC), the Falcons returned the favor when Derek Molina moved into scoring position on a throwing error after beating out an infield single in the first. Omar Sanchez drove him in with a single on the next pitch to make it 1-0.

The score held until the bottom of the sixth inning when Atwater sparked a rally on an almost identical scenario. Sanchez (2 for 3, RBI) dropped down a bunt and advanced to second when the throw went into right field. Tony Romo played hero this time, turning on a first-pitch fastball and drilling a two-out double to left field.

“We needed that boost,” Romo said. “An insurance run is always big in a close ballgame like that, but it re-energized us to finish out the game.”

Turlock 2, Golden Valley 0 in Turlock – The Bulldogs’ Marcus Lopez tossed a no-hitter and Brandon Booz hit a home run.

College

Merced 13, Taft 3 in Merced – Jimbo Pernetti (3 for 5, 3 RBIs) came a double shy of the cycle and Ryan Sanchez allowed one run on six hits in seven innings as the Blue Devils picked up their 20th win of the season.

High school softball

Le Grand 13, Ripon Christian 1 in Le Grand – Madison Furtado (3 for 4) tripled twice and drove in a pair of runs to help back Bianca Minor’s one-hitter in a rout of the Knights.

El Capitan 11, Central Valley 2 in Ceres – Tony Perez doubled and drove in three runs while Cassie Gasper, Makenzie Webber and Jayden Guerrero all added two RBIs for the Gauchos.

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Atwater pitcher Austin Conour grounds Pitman offense."