The Valley Oak League championship may be out of reach for Manteca, but coach Mark Ruiz still wants his team to execute the little things at a high level with the playoffs fast approaching.

Nate Slikker drilled two doubles and scored twice, while three pitchers combined for a two-hitter on Friday in Manteca’s 7-3 win that completes a three-game sweep of visiting Mountain House.

Jimmy Burns (two hits, five walks, four strikeouts) battled through control issues in his four-inning start, but he and the rest of the Buffaloes (11-4 VOL, 18-7 overall) responded well after giving up three runs in the top of the third inning.

They got all three runs back in the bottom half.

Bode Hiatt legged out a bunt single that loaded the bases, and Caleb Ortega plated Devon Richardson (1 for 2, two walks, two runs) with a squeeze bunt. Burns later poked a single to left-center field to knock in Hiatt (1 for 2, run, RBI).

“We executed that inning — that was big,” Ruiz said. “We got the leadoff guy on (a double by Slikker) and executed the way we want to by getting a couple bunts down here and there and just doing the little things to get those runs in.”

Neither team could muster a run the rest of the game. Cameron Jimenez (strikeout, walk) faced four batters in the fifth inning, and Carter Hetrick (two strikeouts) was perfect in the final two for the long save.

“Jimmy threw well,” Ruiz said. “He actually had all of his pitches, he just threw a few too many balls here and there and got behind on a couple counts, but he actually had his pitches going today. Our bullpen came in and closed it out for three innings, so that was nice to see.”

Slikker finished 3 for 3 and was hit by a pitch. His RBI ground-rule double highlighted the Buffaloes’ four-run rally in the first inning.

Matthew Suarez punctuated the flurry with a two-run single — a deserved moment after the catcher took foul balls off the facemask and his throwing hand while behind the plate in the top half of the inning.

“As a catcher, you know what you’re signing up for,” Suarez said. “You’re going to get hurt, you know? Then I got up to bat with a big opportunity. I saw fastball, sat on it and was able to take it pull side. It just felt good to pick up my team.”

Mountain House pitcher Brayden Carpenter had one of his team’s two hits, an RBI single. Callahan Healy walked in a run during the third-inning rally, and Nicholas Torres hit a sacrifice fly. Vincent Baca sparked the Mustangs (3-11, 11-13) with a one-out double down the third-base line.

Carpenter pitched five innings, giving up seven earned runs on six hits and four walks. He also struck out four. Healy pitched a scoreless sixth inning.

Elsewhere on Friday, Central Catholic (15-3, 20-6) eked out a 13-11 win over Oakdale (9-6, 16-8) to clinch sole possession of the league title. It was the final VOL game of the regular season for the Raiders.

Meanwhile, Manteca ends league next week with a three-game series against East Union (10-4, 17-6) with second place and, more importantly, postseason positioning on the line. Game 1 is on Monday at Manteca.

“It’s just another series for us,” Ruiz said. “We’re looking forward to Monday first, and we’ll go from there.”