Two weeks ago, East Union head coach Dan Bauer’s squad found itself 2-3 in Valley Oak League play and down 11-2 to Oakdale midway through the game.
The never-say-die Lancers would come back to win that game, and have since put together six consecutive victories. Included is a 10-2 victory over Sierra on Friday afternoon to put East Union firmly back in the hunt for a VOL title and Sac Joaquin Section Division IV postseason play.
“I think we’ve really started to believe in ourselves,” Bauer said. “In this game, little things matter, and we’ve started to really focus on playing the game the right way and its paying off.”
East Union (6-3 VOL, 13-5 overall) outscored Sierra (1-8, 6-11) 30-5 in the three-game sweep that saw the Lancers rack up 36 hits in the series.
“We’re taking really good at-bats right now,” Bauer. “Making the pitcher work and being short to the ball going back up the middle, while not doing too much has been the recipe for success lately for us.”
The Lancers wasted no time getting on the board, scoring four runs before Timberwolves starter Jayden Pimental was able to record an out. The inning started with a walk to Jackson Fay (1 for 4, RBI, run) and a base hit by Peyton Heath (3-4, RBI, run) before senior third baseman Brayden Camara (4-4, two RBI, three runs) hit his first of three doubles in the game to plate two.
Camara scored on a base hit from catcher Kirk Simoni (3-4, RBI, two runs). Simoni then stole second and advance to third on a throwing error before scoring on a passed ball to give East Union starting pitcher Heath a 4-0 lead going into the second inning.
“We’re playing really good baseball right now,” Camara said. “The focus has been on playing our game regardless of the opponent, and it’s been next man up in a lot of big innings, which we were able to do a few times today.”
The four runs Heath was spotted proved to be more than enough, as the junior hurler allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out three through five innings of work.
“The goal today was to help the team get the sweep by staying competitive and making good pitches,” Heath said. “I was able to get out of a trouble in a few spots, thanks to some good defense behind me.”
East Union picked up a lone run in the second before Heath allowed Sierra to score after a Chad Simas Jr. walk would see him score on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.
The Lancers mounted another rally in the third inning, scoring three more runs highlighted by a two-run single from sophomore left fielder Ryder Tompkins (1-3, 3 RBI) to stretch the lead to 8-1 for the hosts.
Sierra managed to scratch across another run after a two-out rally started by Ryan Reyes (1-3, 1 run) would see him come around to score on a bases-loaded walk to Simas.
East Union was able to tack on a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to make it 10-2 before Camara came on with two on in the seventh inning to secure the victory for the Lancers.
Things don’t get any easier for Sierra as the Timberwolves head into a three-game set against first place Central Catholic next week. East Union will play Patterson for three games looking to continue their hot streak.
“We’re going to focus on playing our game,” Camara said. “No matter what team is in front of us we know if practice hard and bring it on game days we will give ourselves a good chance to win no matter the opponent.”
