Merced clinches playoff spot in baseball

Lawrence Anderson went the distance on the mound, and the Merced High School baseball team clinched a playoff berth with a 5-1 victory over Atwater at Firemen’s Memorial Ballpark on Tuesday afternoon.

Anderson limited the Falcons (15-11, 7-7 Central California Conference) to four hits and one unearned run. He pitched around five Bears errors with the help of 14 ground-ball outs.

“It feels good to know we’re still going to be playing while other teams are staying at home,” Anderson said. “We wanted to win a league title, but at least we’re still going to the playoffs.”

“You have to tip your cap to their little lefty,” Atwater coach Jarrod Pimentel said. “He’s now going to overpower you, but we rolled over on a lot of pitches. We couldn’t get the big inning going.”

The Bears (12-14, 9-5) scored four runs in the first four innings against Atwater ace Austin Conour, who threw a no-hitter against Buhach Colony in his last outing.

In the second inning, Merced’s Ulonzo Gilliam hit a line drive that was misplayed in the outfield, resulting in two runs that gave the Bears a 3-0 lead. Tanner Pellissier’s RBI triple extended the lead to 4-1 in the fourth.

“(Conour) has got nasty stuff, but our guys did a good job with two strikes,” Merced coach Justin Parle said. “I thought that was the difference today.”

The Bears close the regular season against visiting Atwater at 7 tonight.

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 8:47 PM with the headline "Merced clinches playoff spot in baseball."