Faces unfamiliar with notebooks and pencils were visible
Wednesday as Hollister High and Live Oak ignited the Tri-County
Athletic League season on the Balers’ diamond.
Faces unfamiliar with notebooks and pencils were visible Wednesday as Hollister High and Live Oak ignited the Tri-County Athletic League season on the Balers’ diamond.
The birddogs were there to take note of Acorns pitcher Ryan Muller, who was just coming off a 20-strikeout effort last week.
Though Muller was very good, it was the Acorns hitters who stole the show. Live Oak, exhibiting not many holes in its lineup, hit Baler starter Eric Diaz Jr. hard and coasted to a 10-1 victory over the defending co-Monterey Bay League champs.
It was the kind of defeat that had Haybaler head coach Neal Andrade talking about “peaks and valleys”.
“We’ve tagged some teams like that the past couple of years,” said Andrade. “I told my team we can’t get too down with the loss, just like we can’t get too high when we win games like that. We got beat. Muller pitched well. We just tip our cap and get ready for Friday.”
The Balers (5-3, 0-1), pending rain, have to get off the canvas and play in Morgan Hill Friday against the Acorns (6-3, 1-0), who played like a real title contender.
“It’s too early for that,” said Live Oak’s Bryan Jones, trying to hide a smile.
“Hollister’s too good a team,” added Acorns coach Marc Cummins. “They play solid baseball. We have to come out Friday like the score is 0-0. Friday is just as big a game as this. We have a chance to put Hollister two games behind us.”
The Balers started with a bang when Diaz Jr. drove a Muller fastball over the large left-center field screen. Little did the Balers think then that that would be the only run they would plate.
Down 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Nick Ramos singled sharply through the left side. But Muller bowed the neck to set down the Balers’ 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup.
Trailing 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Balers mounted another threat, which could have been bigger if they could have caught a break from the base umpire. P.J. Galvan singled with one out. Manny Hinojos’ grounder to second was shoveled to Acorns shortstop Dave Newton. The ball popped out of Newton’s glove and hit the dirt, but the force was ruled on Galvan. Andrade protested for a minute, but it was a lost cause.
The call proved huge when Steve O’Connell walked and was replaced by pinch-runner Nick Gonzales. Muller seemed to lose the ability to locate his fastball for a spate and walked Josh Badillo to load the bases. After a meeting with Cummins, Muller went back to his curve. He threw two beauties to Ramos for 0-2, the got Ramos to bound out to end the inning.
The Acorns feasted on the momentum and erupted off Diaz Jr. with one out. Newton was hit by a pitch, the third hit batsmen by Diaz Jr. Scott Hayslip then doubled into the corner in left. Jones singled in one run, then Muller chased Diaz Jr. with a crushing double off the center field screen to score another.
“We had some timely hitting today,” said Cummins. “We played strong defense. Muller’s always around the plate. Hollister was putting the bat on the ball and we made the plays.”
The Acorns were errorless, while the Balers made three fielding errors, two in the outfield. All three errors brought in Acorns runs.
“We didn’t come to play today,” said Diaz Jr. “We worked and prepared hard and we started off OK, but we made too many mistakes. I didn’t have my best stuff, either.”
“I liked the way we were aggressive at the plate early in the game,” said Andrade. “We had some solid at bats, some good swings. We hit some balls hard right at them. We had some opportunities, but we couldn’t take advantage.”
Baler bits: Live Oak had 10 hits to the Balers’ four. – In another T-CAL game, Salinas beat Gilroy 7-2. – Ramos made a nice play for the final out in the second when he fielded a tough grounder to his right to throw Hayslip out. – Muller picked off Badillo after Badillo reached first base on a fielder’s choice in the third. – Muller had six strikeouts while Diaz Jr. had five. – Hollister is at Gilroy Wednesday and hosts the Mustangs Friday, March 21.
JV score: Hollister 4, Live Oak 2. In Morgan Hill, Breyon Canez picked up the win when the Balers, down 2-1, scored three runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead. Seth Hudson and Chris Etheridge had timely doubles for the Balers (6-0).
It has been a good start for the Baler JVs, who won the King City Tournament. Hudson was tourney MVP. The Balers swept Paso Robles 10-3, 3-2 Saturday behind two triples and 4 RBI from Brett Brennan. Etheridge and Anthony Vasquez were the winning pitchers.
Live Oak 030 034 0 – 10 10 0
Hollister 100 000 0 – 1 4 3
Muller and Perez; Diaz Jr., Fulgoni (6) and Synegal. WP-Muller (3-1). LP-Diaz, Jr. (2-2). 2B – Hayslip, Muller, Bennett (LO). HR – Diaz Jr. (H). 2 hits – Hayslip (LO). 2 RBI – Perez (LO).
