Jeremy Vaughn came through for his team on Monday.
He pitched in honor of his dad.
Vaughn’s lights-out effort in long relief anchored Manteca High’s 9-4 victory over visiting Sierra, which looked to hamper the Buffaloes’ chances of advancing to the postseason.
After freshman starter Dominic Pisano struggled to spot his pitches in one-plus inning of work, Vaughn helped the Buffs overcome a 3-0 deficit by piecing together his longest and best performance of the season. He gave up just one run on four hits and no walks while striking out five in six innings.
Vaughn said his father, Robin, passed away two weeks ago.
“I’m playing for him,” the left-handed junior said. “He’s been my motivation.”
Manteca (7-6, 13-9 overall) is plenty motivated enough for its final Valley Oak League series this week. It has a chance to overtake Sonora for second place and a more favorable position for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs.
The Buffaloes’ seat in the postseason isn’t reserved just yet, but they were able to knock both Kimball and East Union — which lost 11-10 at Kimball Monday — out of the hunt. They advance if first-place Oakdale beats Lathrop today. Either way, destiny is in their hands at Sierra Wednesday.
East Union, Lathrop and Kimball went into the week locked in a four-way tie for third place with Manteca and a game behind Sonora. Manteca is closing in on its fourth playoff appearance in five years.
“The kids know what’s at stake,” Manteca coach Gene Ballardo said. “We’re going to go out there and give it our all. It’s the last week of the season and we’re playing for something, which says a lot right there.”
Ballardo and the Buffaloes had reason for worry in the early going Monday.
Pisano walked the first two batters he faced, and after striking out two he loaded the bases by issuing yet another free pass. Marc Wilson drew a four-pitch walk for an RBI, and Joseph Collett drove in two more with a bloop single to left.
Pisano was relieved after walking Rodrigo Contreras to start the second. The freshman standout has pitched sparingly since a lower back injury sustained in pre-league play.
“It’s not bothering me anymore, I just didn’t have control today,” Pisano said. “I wasn’t on my ‘A’ game.”
His bat showed little rust, however. He went 3 for 4 with two runs driven in and another plated.
“Can’t get down,” he said. “You have to stay up the whole game even if things aren’t going right.”
Ballardo is proud of the resiliency showed by the youngster and the rest of the squad. Manteca got production up and down the lineup en route to rapping 12 hits.
Nathan Chivello, batting out of the No. 7 spot, drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with a sharp single to left in the bottom of the third inning, and Manteca didn’t look back.
Danny Gouveia finished 2 for 3 with two runs from the leadoff spot, Daniel Miramontes belted an RBI double and scored twice, and Alex Martinez (two runs) and Buddy Reeder (RBI) were both 2 for 4.
Manteca was able to generate offense without cleanup hitter Jacob Corn in the lineup. The sophomore pitching ace was ejected from Friday’s game against Kimball and will return to action Wednesday.
“That’s a sign of a team coming along,” Ballardo said. “Hopefully on Wednesday we can repeat this. I was happy with how everybody picked each other up.”
Sierra coach Jack Thomson is looking for a better effort out of his ballclub in its season finale.
The Timberwolves (4-9, 12-11) committed 12 errors that led to five unearned runs but also made mistakes on the base paths and the batter’s box.
“I thought it was a lackluster effort,” Thomson said. “Our players had some expectations and the reality set in that we’re not going to the playoffs — there was an obvious letdown. Our heads were just not in the game.
“That’s not to take anything away from what (Manteca did), they did a great job, but I was disappointed in our whole approach today. Hopefully we show up on Wednesday.”
