Merced’s bats break out against Golden Valley

The Merced High School offense exploded for 17 hits as the Bears defeated Golden Valley 18-8 Tuesday afternoon at Doug Fister Field.

Armando Flores had two hits and drove in three runs and Nick Camper had two hits and scored three times for the Bears (9-14, 6-5 Central California Conference).

The Bears were forced to go to the bullpen early after starting pitcher Lawrence Anderson was hit in the calf by a pitch to start the game. Anderson’s calf cramped, and he struggled through the first inning, surrendering three runs.

Trevor Phillips relieved Anderson and pitched five innings to pick up the win.

“Trevor did a good job throwing strikes and keeping us in the ballgame,” said Merced coach Justin Parle. “Both teams swung the bats pretty well. Defense was a little ugly. We need to keep our focus and keep trying to get better.”

The Bears jumped out to a 10-4 lead after the third inning. Evan Hanneman went 3 for 5 and scored two runs for Merced. Jeremy Mendoza and Ulonzo Gilliam each had two hits.

Tanner Browning went 3 for 4 for Golden Valley with two doubles, a triple and two runs.

The teams will play twice more this week, including the annual Nannini game Friday night at Merced High.

This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Merced’s bats break out against Golden Valley."