The Merced Bears hosted the Gregori Jaguars under the bright lights of Merced High’s baseball field on Friday night, March 13th, in an early preseason matchup. The Bears entered the game with a 1-3 record while Gregori came in at 2-3, setting up an anticipated and competitive local matchup.
Gregori struck first in the top of the second inning. Chayton Moreno was hit by a pitch to start the inning, putting a runner on first. Chase Hardin followed with a line-drive double to the outfield, moving Moreno to third. Later in the inning, Gage Perez hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Moreno to score from third base and giving the Jaguars an early lead. Merced responded in the bottom half of the inning when Conner Vitelli doubled to left field and Bradyn Prothro-Sims was hit by a pitch. As the Bears attempted a double steal, Vitelli was thrown out at third, but Prothro-Sims was able to reach second. Xavian Morales then singled to right field, allowing Prothro-Sims to score and tie the game 1-1.
In the top of the third, however, Gregori’s Jivoni Pando-Dumolt reached first base after being hit by a pitch. Sebastian Joseph then walked, but not before Pando-Dumolt stole two bases to reach third, putting two runners on for Chayton Moreno. An error by the Bears’ shortstop during Moreno’s at bat allowed both Pando-Dumolt and Joseph to score. This gave Gregori back the lead 3-1.
The Bears were able to cut into Gregori’s lead in the fourth inning when Merced’s Conner Vitelli reached base with a single and advanced to second after Vicente Cortez was hit by a pitch. Joshua Molina then singled to right field. This allowed Vitelli to score from second base, making the score 3-2.
The game’s turning point came in the top of the sixth inning for Gregori. With Chase Hardin and Gage Perez on base, Mike Carrera stepped up to the plate and hit a powerful line drive triple to right field. An error from Bears’ second baseman Joshua Molina allowed Carrera to come home and score, clearing the bases and giving the Jaguars a 6-2 lead. The hit gave Gregori a commanding lead and energized the Jaguars, pushing the momentum in their favor.
After this game changing play, the Jaguars’ pitching was able to keep the Bears from threatening the lead and cruised to a 6-2 victory. Gregori’s Lucas Riddle pitched three hitless innings in relief, striking out seven batters. Merced’s pitcher Conner Vitelli took the loss despite pitching five strong innings, giving up one earned run and striking out eight batters.
Gregori senior Lucas Riddle said, “Coming off back-to-back losses, we were just trying to find a win, trying to gain some confidence. Try not to do too much with our batting, just keep it simple. We just needed a win today, and that’s what we got.” Reflecting on what worked well, he added, “Offensively, we probably didn’t do our best, but pitching was stellar … Another thing we’ve been looking for with our pitchers has been to really work hard to just throw strikes, and that’s what we were able to do today.” Looking ahead, Riddle said, “Situational hitting is the biggest thing that we try to work on. That’s our plan for every game. Come up in big spots when you’re needed as a hitter, no matter if you’re the leadoff guy or the ninth hitter. Every at-bat, we’re trying to do something that’s gonna help the entire team and not just [our] individual stats.”
With the win, Gregori improves to 3-3, while Merced falls to 1-4. The Bears will look to bounce back when they travel to play the El Capitan Gauchos on March 16 at 4:00 p.m. to begin league play. Gregori will continue their preseason schedule by traveling to play Kimball High on March 16. Their gametime is set for 4:00 p.m. as well.
- Photos by Grace Gallegos. ↩︎
