It’s been a season marred by heartbreaking losses for East Union
The Lancers were swept by perennial Valley Oak League contender Oakdale, losing both games by a grand total of three runs. They split with league-leading Sierra, and then lost to a struggling Lathrop club in eight innings. They were also competitive in two-run setbacks against Central Catholic.
“We barely lost a couple of games,” East Union senior center fielder Gabe Chavez said. “The difference was this pitch or that play that has determined our season so far.”
The mounting defeats have East Union playing for pride and bragging rights this week as it caps the regular season against Manteca. On Monday, the Lancers proved once again to be better than their record, toppling the playoff-bound Buffaloes 7-1 and winning a third straight game for the first time this season. The series finale takes place today at Agostini Field.
The loss is significant for Manteca (8-5, 14-10) in terms of playoff seedings. The Buffaloes entered a game ahead of Central Catholic (8-5, 15-10) but could end up as the fourth-place team in league even if the two clubs share the same record. The tiebreaker would be their series outcomes against East Union. Central Catholic routed Lathrop 12-0 Monday.
“We just wanted to win,” said Chavez, who finished 2 for 3 with two RBIS and two runs scored. “We want to win these crosstown rivalries and we were able to get one against Sierra, too. We were ready to play.”
And they played their best game of the season, according to head coach Dan Triglia. East Union (6-7 VOL, 7-16 overall) never trailed after scoring the first two runs in the top of the third and put up a four spot in the fourth to lead 6-1. Junior ace pitcher Marco Gonzales took it from there, finishing with nine strikeouts in a hard-earned four-hitter.
“From pitching to defense, timely hitting and being aggressive on the bases — definitely a complete, team win,” Triglia said. “Probably our best full seven of the year. It’s nice to be finishing on that roll and hopefully we can do it again tomorrow.”
Adrian Affleje (2 for 4, two runs) sparked both rallies from the No. 7 spot in East Union’s order and ripped a double in the fourth. Chavez, Kyle Emerson and Lucas Garcia (2 for 3, two RBIs) followed with RBI singles.
The offense gave Gonzales all the support he needed. The Lancers rapped six of their eight runs in the two innings and made Manteca pay for three errors.
“That’s huge,” Gonzales said. “I have huge confidence in our offense. We’ve been swinging the bat well since Central Catholic (two weeks ago).”
Gonzales had to navigate through a lineup that scored 32 runs in two wins over Kimball last week. The 5-foot-7, 185-pound righty struggled at the start before finding his grooves in the middle innings when he retired 10 of 11 batters.
Gonzales walked back-to-back batters to start the second inning, and A.J. Kieffaber put two runners in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Gonzales was able to escape the jam with two strikeouts. Manteca didn’t score until Ronaldo Tijero drove in Dominick Pisano in the third.
“We work on that situation continuously, day in and day out,” Manteca coach Neil MacDannald said. “You gotta tip your cap to (Gonzales), he won that battle. We didn’t score and they went out the very next inning and come through in the same situation.
“When you’re facing a dude like him who had a reputation of not giving up too many runs, you have to come through when you have him on the ropes like that. And when you don’t, it just puts momentum back in their dugout.”
Central Catholic 12, Lathrop 0 (5)
In Modesto, the Raiders delivered the knockout blow with an eight-run barrage in the third inning, while pitcher Matt Banks twirled a mercy-shortened two-hitter.
Armando Perez and Keenan Donatelli accounted for Lathrop’s lone hits.
“We came out flat today,” Lathrop coach Randy Baltazar said. “We didn’t make adjustments at the plate or on the mound and we weren’t aggressive to the ball on defense. Those factors cannot happen, otherwise you have a game like this.”
Southern League
Ripon Christian 6, Le Grand 5
In Ripon, the Knights (10-3, 17-4) plated the tying and game-winning runs in the bottom of the seventh inning
Ripon Christian led 4-1 after four innings and had to overcome six errors. Connor McGovern went 2 for 3 with two runs, while Billy Marr and Jake Groshong each drove in a pair of runs. Willem Hoekstra and Travis Zuidervaart plated two runs apiece.
The regular season ends at Le Grand on Wednesday.
