East Union secured an important Valley Oak League series win Wednesday when it held off host Sierra 3-2, but now the Lancers are getting greedy.
“We want to win all three,” winning pitcher Blake Mount said. “We’re gunning for it.”
The three-game set closes at EU’s Agostini Field today, and the Lancers (2-0, 10-3 overall) will have the rest of their pitching arsenal ready. Lefty ace Zach Grabowski twirled a four-hit shutout in the 5-0 win on Monday, and Mount backed him with a two-hitter.
“That’s huge,” East Union coach Dan Bauer said. “They came out and threw well. We
“It’s huge having everybody (available) tomorrow. Playing three games a week is tough, but when your first two guys go CG (complete game) that leaves you a lot of options for game 3.”
Mount finished with 11 strikeouts, walked one and hit one while throwing 94 pitches. The junior righty cruised through the first five innings, allowing just one runner to reach scoring position.
He then ran into some trouble in the sixth. Troy Morrow led off with a hit for Sierra (0-2, 7-5) and Druw Navarro drew a five-pitch walk. Angel Valdez reached after Morrow was called out on his way to second for interfering with third baseman Kirk Simoni on the groundball.
Rudy Barney grounded out to second but also drove in the Timberwolves’ first run of the series. Pinch-hitter Travis Boyd later reached on an error, which allowed Valdez to score and draw Sierra to within one.
The T’wolves appeared prime to rally again in the seventh when pinch-hitter Ricardo Anaya was drilled on the second pitch. Mount steeled his nerves and struck out the next three batters.
“Sometimes I just need to take a second to take a deep breath and cool off when stuff like that happens,” Mount said. “I try to stay as mentally calm as I can. I just came up and knew what I had to do.”
East Union made the most of its opportunities on offense. The Lancers scored twice in the second inning, with speedy sophomore Jackson Fay providing the spark with a perfect bunt single. He advanced to second because of an overthrow, and Peyton Heath, who led off the inning with a walk, scored on the play. Carson Sanders later knocked in J.P. Abrew (walked) with a blooper to right.
The Lancers got a needed insurance run in the fifth, as Sanders reached on a lead-off infield single and scored on a fielding error.
The offensive and defensive woes spoiled a strong outing from Sierra relief pitcher Ryan McIntyre, who replaced the cramping Josh Seals with one out in the third inning. He struck out six and gave up an unearned run on two hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.
McIntyre also threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the Monday opener.
“He kept us in the game,” Sierra coach Travis Thomson said. “He threw his fastball, curveball and change-up, and those are tough outs to get. Really proud of the effort we got from McIntyre today.”
With just six hits through 14 innings, Thomson hopes the Timberwolves can carry over their late-inning surge into today’s game.
“It’s as simple as swinging the bat,” he said. “We took so many called fastballs on the outside half (of the plate) today, and we got ourselves in a lot of two-strike counts. When you dig yourself a hole that often, you’re not going to do very well.
“These are good hitters we have here at Sierra, but they’re only good when they swing. That’s kind of where this group is at. We’re going to need some guys in that dugout to step up and start being aggressive and having competitive at-bats, or it’s going to be a long year.”
“Backs up against the wall,” he added. “There’s nowhere else to run for this group right now. We have to show up and get the win, because getting swept in the VOL is brutal.”
