- Both Teams combined for seven hits as the starting pitchers stole the night.
- Three errors by El Capitan proved to be the difference.
- El Capitan remains in first place by one game after winning the series 2-1.
The Atwater Falcons and El Capitan Gauchos concluded their three-game series Friday night at Memorial Ballpark in Atwater. After El Capitan had won the previous two matchups earlier in the week, the pressure was on the Falcons to avoid the sweep at home. The game featured two top pitchers for both teams, Zach Hunter for the Gauchos and Mathias Cole for the home team Falcons.
After the first two innings were scoreless, the action picked up in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Atwater leadoff hitter Kayson Faulk reached base on an error by the Gauchos’ third baseman. After the Gauchos walked and hit the next two batters, the bases were loaded for Hudson Pimentel. Pimentel delivered a game changing hit to the outfield, driving in two runs. Shortly after, a fielding error by El Capitan’s shortstop allowed another run to score, giving Atwater a 3-0 lead.
El Capitan tried to come back in the top of the fourth. Cooper Gaoiran reached base with a single to the outfield. Two batters later, with one out, Angel Rivera blasted the ball deep into left field. However, the ball was ruled a ground rule double after being stuck in the brush, and the runner on first was not allowed to come home. The inning ended a batter later when Matt McQuillen lined out to the second baseman, who sent the ball to the shortstop at second before Rivera could get back to the bag. The sudden double play killed the rally and maintained Atwater’s shutout.
Atwater added a run in the fifth inning. Andres Reyna reached base by drawing his second walk of the game and was able to eventually make his way to third base after a sacrifice bunt by Mattias Cole. Two batters later, with two outs, a wild pitch allowed Reyna to come home, extending the lead to 4-0. From there, Cole took complete control for the Falcons, retiring the next 6 of 7 Gaucho hitters to complete the shutout. The Atwater ace gave up just four hits while striking out four over seven innings and earning a win that allowed Atwater to avoid being swept.
After the game, Cole discussed the team’s urgency, “I feel like our focus after losing the [last] two games is really just getting out there and making sure we don’t get swept by them […] we’re gonna have to look forward for the future and hopefully they lose the game so we can win league.” He credited the team’s energy as the key to improving going forward, “Our energy was really good. Our hitting was good and our defense was great. Everything was perfect this game. I feel like our next thing is we really just have to keep that same energy. That was the perfect game. We just got to keep that up.”
With the win, Atwater ended El Capitan’s five-game winning streak. Looking forward, El Capitan will travel to San Francisco to face the South San Francisco Warriors on March 30 at 4:00 p.m. Atwater’s next game will also be on the road to play the Escalon Cougars on March 31 at 4:00 p.m.
- Photos by Grace Gallegos. ↩︎
