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Buffs capitalize on early free passes to beat EU
East Union-Manteca baseball
Manteca’s Noah Navarro throws to first against visiting East Union. - photo by SEAN KAHLER

 Seven free passes spotted Manteca five runs after two innings on the way to a 5-2 win Monday, as the host Buffaloes withstood a late surge by East Union in the first of three Valley Oak League baseball contests between the rival teams this week.

“We have to throw strikes,” East Union coach Dan Bauer said. “Six walks and a hit batter in the first two innings is seven free passes. We have to be better at pitching.

“I like our approach at the end of the game. We have to work on being a little more mentally focused out of the gate.”

Jace Quitasol knocked in three of the five runs for the Buffaloes (3-1 VOL, 13-2-1 overall), the first on a sacrifice fly in the first inning that scored Noah Navarro (RBI, two runs), and the next two on a bloop single in the second that plated Rex Watson and Navarro.

“It wasn’t our best day,” Quitasol said. “We could have done better.

“Our approach wasn’t the best, but we will try and go the other way and stick to our plan next time.”

Nate Slikker started on the hill for Manteca and pitched through the fifth, allowing one run on two hits while striking out seven. Going into the fifth, the Lancers (3-1, 11-4) had managed just two balls out of the infield.

“I was just trying to get ahead in the count working the fast ball,” Slikker said. “I was feeling good today and they were not really hitting it that well.

“I was trusting my defense to try and get outs early in the count and not go too deep and let my defense make plays.”

The Buffaloes tallied just three hits.

“We had to grind that game out for sure,” Manteca coach Mark Ruiz said. We let them hang around a little longer than we should have. We were just missing a couple of big hits. We will make some adjustments and be OK.”

East Union got its two runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Joe Alvarez (RBI, run) led off the fifth with a walk, went to third on a double by Brayden Camara (2 for 3, two doubles) and scored on a sacrifice fly Davien Fagundes. Kirk Simoni doubled to lead off the Lancers seventh and was replaced on the base paths by Jayden Morales who scored on an Alvarez double.

The two teams play the second game of their three-game series Wednesday afternoon at 4 at Agostini Field.