Merced’s Nickles baffles Atwater offense again

Atwater High School will not be sorry to see Madilyn Nickles depart for UCLA in the fall.

The Falcons have routinely been among the Central California Conference’s top squads during the Merced senior’s four-year tenure, but have consistently struggled against the right-hander. The trend continued on Friday afternoon in Merced.

Fresh off of her perfect game performance against Golden Valley on Wednesday, Nickles kept right on dealing from the circle. The senior shut out Atwater for the sixth straight time in a 2-0 Bear victory, extending her scoreless-innings streak against the Falcons to 45 innings. Nickles has recorded 68 strikeouts during the streak and yielded just 13 hits.

Four of those hits came on Friday as the Falcons did put some pressure on the Merced ace, led by Eileen Martinez, who was 2 for 4 with a double.

Rheanne Lewis (2 for 4) would provide all the offense Nickles would need. She singled and scored the game’s opening run in the first inning, then provided a big insurance run with a solo home run in the fifth. Cheyenne Mahy kept things close for the Falcons, scattering six hits and striking out 10.

Merced improved to 6-0 in the CCC and 11-4 overall. Atwater dropped to 3-3 in conference and 7-6 overall.

Golden Valley 14, Pitman 8 in Turlock – Christiane Grijalva had a big day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with four RBIs. Two of those came on a seventh-inning double that sparked a five-run inning and helped seal the Cougars’ victory.

Kim Andrade and Marissa Bertuccio also had three hits in the victory as GV (4-11, 2-4 CCC) got itself right back into playoff contention, one game back of Atwater and Buhach Colony.

Turlock 8, Buhach Colony 3 in Atwater – Perhaps still reeling from Wednesday’s close loss to rival Atwater, the Thunder (8-6, 3-3 CCC) turned in an unusually sloppy performance at home.

Selena Sandoval did her part, striking out eight and limiting the Bulldogs to two runs through four innings while driving in a pair of runs in the game. The wheels came off for BC in a six-run, error-filled fifth inning, however.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Merced’s Nickles baffles Atwater offense again."