Buhach Colony threatens but comes up short against Pitman

The Buhach Colony High School baseball team had a run in, the bases loaded with no outs and momentum in the seventh inning.

It all changed with one pitch, as Pitman’s Daren Finney induced a double-play ball from Julien Sandoval. Finney then recorded a strikeout to end the game and preserve a 6-4 win for the visiting Pride on Tuesday afternoon.

It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Thunder (11-9, 3-5 Central California Conference).

“I didn’t think we competed very well today until the end,” Buhach Colony coach Greg Wakefield said. “There’s a lot of good teams in our league – teams that will be in the hunt. If we want to be in the hunt, we’re going to have to compete a lot better.”

Wakefield was frustrated by his players looking at third strikes with runners in scoring position. He also felt there were plays that could have been made on defense that went for hits, including balls up the middle and fly balls that dropped in front of outfielders.

Meanwhile, Pitman (16-4, 7-1) came up with clutch at-bats, scoring five runs with two outs.

Dylan Roberts delivered a two-out single to score Finney in the first inning to give the Pride a 2-0 lead. Coleton Horner drove in a run with a two-out single in the third to extend the lead to 3-1.

Colton Evans doubled in a run with two outs in the sixth and scored on a single by Finney to give Pitman a 6-2 lead.

“They put the ball in play with good at-bats,” Wakefield said. “They just got one run in a couple times. They do that very well. They compete every at-bat. We can learn from them.”

Mike Casso and Chase Pennycuff led the Thunder’s eight-hit attack with three hits each.

Merced 5, Turlock 3 in Turlock – Mando Flores collected two hits, and the Bears (7-13, 4-4 CCC) won their fifth consecutive game and handed the Bulldogs (7-1) their first conference loss.

Atwater 11, Golden Valley 6 in Atwater – Jesus Duran went 4 for 5 and scored three runs, and the Falcons (11-9, 3-5 CCC) scored 10 runs in the first three innings against the Cougars (0-8).

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony threatens but comes up short against Pitman."