Santi Duarte drilled a grand slam during Sierra’s 10-run fourth inning at Weston Ranch and was the winning pitcher of a lopsided 18-5 Valley Oak League baseball victory Tuesday in Stockton.
The Timberwolves (4-4 VOL, 9-13 overall) were down 5-2 going into the fourth inning.
“The single swing changed the entire momentum for our team,” Sierra coach Travis Thomson said. “I felt like our guys worked hard to keep the momentum on our side and finish the game strong.”
Duarte finished 3 for 6 and was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Jack Cunial, Angel Valdez and Mitch Van Zwaluwenburg each contributed two hits and two runs.
Weston Ranch (1-10, 7-17) used four pitchers who combined to walk 15 batters. Duarte delivered for Sierra in long relief, tallying five strikeouts while giving up zero earned runs.
“Santi did a great job attacking the strike zone and mixing up his pitches to get them off balance,” Thomson said.
The Cougars jumped ahead with four runs in the second inning. Jose Aguilar and Christian Cortes highlighted the rally with RBI singles.
Johnny Wylie struck out eight for visiting Oakdale (7-2 VOL, 16-6 overall), which plated at least a run in five of the seven innings.
He held Manteca (4-4, 10-11) to six hits.
Mountain House 13, Lathrop 12
The Western Athletic Conference-leading Mustangs (10-1, 17-7 overall) got all they could handle from visiting Lathrop (6-5, 8-8), which is battling for its first playoff berth.
Tyler Jordan ended it with a bang, belting a bases-clearing double in the final inning.
The game started well for the Spartans, who staked a 5-0 lead. Mountain House answered with six in the bottom of the third, and it was game on from there. Lathrop put up a five-spot in the sixth to lead 12-10 in the seventh.
Noah Martinez went 3 for 5 with three runs for the Spartans. Omare Cross went 3 for 3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Alyuss Duenez (double, two runs, three RBIs), Jeremiah Estante (double, two runs, RBI), Jeremy Julien (RBI) and Roman Giordano (double, run, two RBIs) added two hits apiece.
The two teams combined for 27 hits, 10 walks and seven errors.
BOYS TENNIS
VOL Tournament
Manteca’s Ivan Barajas and Weston Ranch’s Victor Perez were the only two area players to reach the quarterfinal round of the singles tournament Tuesday at Central Catholic.
Barajas was defeated by Jackson Healy of Oakdale, 3-6, 2-6. He started with an 8-1 win over Weston Ranch’s Frankie Ambriz and an 8-7 (5) win over Sierra’s Brady Alves.
Perez had a first-round bye and ousted Manteca’s Michael Osana 8-2 before falling to Central Catholic’s Danny Barraza in the quarters.
It will be an all-Oakdale final Thursday morning as Ryan Krause and Caleb Poling will meet for the individual crown. Also on Thursday in the doubles tournament.
