Miller dominant again as Merced sweeps Golden Valley

Mitchell Miller turned in another dominant pitching performance and Merced bats stayed hot with a 9-3 win to finish off a three-game sweep against Golden Valley on Friday night at Merced High.

Miller flirted with his second no-hitter of the season before finally giving up a single to Garrett Nishihama with one out in the sixth inning. The Merced ace settled for a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts and surrendered two walks and three unearned runs.

“I knew I had one going. I just tried to keep making pitches, keep getting ground balls,” Miller said. “That’s baseball.”

Friday night’s game was the 11th annual Nannini Game in honor of former Merced High players Kevin and Brian Nannini. Representing the Kevin and Brian Nannini Scholarship Foundation, Dave Nannini handed out $300 scholarships to the 15 seniors on both teams during a pregame ceremony.

The foundation has awarded 150 scholarships for a total of $60,000 in the past 11 years.

The Bears (11-14, 8-5 Central California Conference) sprang out of the gate with four runs in the first against Golden Valley left-hander Eddie Aguayo.

Lawrence Anderson was hit by a pitch to start the game and Nick Camper followed with a triple to drive in the first run of the game. Camper scored on a sacrifice fly by Armando Flores.

The Bears then drew four straight walks to force in the third run and Ulonzo Gilliam drove in Tanner Pellissier with a single to give Merced a 4-0 lead.

Camper finished with a pair of hits, including an inside-the-park home run during Merced’s four-run sixth inning. Jeremy Mendoza went 3-for-3 with an RBI for Merced, which scored 40 runs in the three-game sweep of GV.

The win combined with Atwater’s 9-3 loss to Buhach Colony on Friday night gives Merced sole possession of third place heading into the final two games against the Falcons next week. The Bears need at least a split to clinch a playoff spot.

“We came into the GV series needing to win every game,” Merced coach Justin Parle said. “We really needed every game. We still need every game. Atwater has been playing well. They had a string of wins going before tonight and they’re playing with a lot of confidence.”

The Bears are playing with confidence, too, after winning eight of their last nine conference games.

“We control our own destiny and that’s really all you can ask for,” Miller said. “If we take care of business we’re in the playoffs. If we don’t then we’ll have an early break.”

Softball

Merced 6, Turlock 2 in Turlock – Madilyn Nickles homered, drove in four runs and struck out 12 hitters to help the Bears (19-6, 12-2 CCC) clinch the outright conference title.

This story was originally published May 1, 2015 at 11:08 PM with the headline "Miller dominant again as Merced sweeps Golden Valley."