After an unsuccessful first at-bat against Atwater High ace Kylie Medina, Merced senior Madi Cabral knew she had to make an adjustment. After seeing a steady diet of outside pitches from the Falcons left-hander, Cabral moved closer to the plate and looked for a pitch she could hit to right field.

 

Cabral got her pitch and delivered, launching an RBI-triple to deep right field to tie the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning. Cabral then came in to score on a groundout by Mariah Higareda to give the Bears a 2-1 lead. That was all Annalise Ramirez would need as the Merced ace retired 19 of the final 21 hitters as the Bears earned an important 2-1 victory over the Falcons at Atwater High on Tuesday afternoon.

Merced improved to 12-3 overall and 3-0 in the CCC where the Bears are tied with Buhach Colony atop the conference standings. “This was a pretty big game,” Cabral said, “I’m not saying the other (CCC) teams aren’t good, but I feel like it's always comes down to Merced and Atwater head to head, and I feel like getting the first win out of the gate against them was really good.”

 

The Falcons (9-6 overall, 2-1 CCC) struck first in the first innings when Audrina Granados drove in Medina with a bunt single to give Atwater a 1-0 lead.The Falcons were set up to possibly tack on more with the bases loaded and just one out, however, Ramirez was able to get Genesis Velasquez to hit a pop up that Merced shortstop Atonnia LeJarde was able to run down in the outfield and then double off the runner at second base to get out of the inning.

 

“When we got that double play, pop up it really helped out a lot,” said Merced coach Jennifer Moreno. “Especially because they had momentum. We get that and it feels like we’re still in it.”

Both offenses came in hot with the Bears scoring 18 runs in their last CCC win over Golden Valley and Atwater scoring 28 runs in its two CCC wins. However, Tuesday was dominated by pitching as Ramirez and Medina dueled it out in the circle.

 

Ramirez surrendered just four hits and struck out nine in the complete-game victory. Medina also pitched well enough to win, giving up just the two runs on four hits and one walk. The big hit was Cabral, who bounced back after striking out in the first inning. “I noticed that she was pushing everything outside and I wasn't getting a lot of inside pitches,” Cabral said. So I decided that I would get up in the box, close to the plate. I put my toes on the line.”

Cabral said the hit felt great off the bat and she knew she had delivered a big hit right away. As she ran the bases she was filled with excitement. “It was a very close game, so hitting that triple and helping my team was really big, and I felt very proud,” she said. “It's a great feeling. It's like a bunch of joy and happiness. It's what keeps me in the game, it’s just an amazing feeling.”

 

The Bears now prepare for another big CCC game on Thursday at home with Buhach Colony coming in after a 3-0 start in conference play. “We knew it was going to be a fight,” Miranda said. “So it's really good to come out on top. We know we still play everybody else and we're not safe. One game could change it all, but we know we're capable of getting shutouts in these big games. We’ve got a good defense, we’ve got a good pitcher, we have the offense, so it feels good to get this W.”

Buhach Colony 6, Los Banos 5 – Madelyn Zamarripa and Aubrey Trindade both hit home runs to spark the Thunder past the Tigers to improve to 12-7 overall and 3-0 in the CCC. Makennah Ayuso added two hits, a run scored and an RBI for Buhach Colony and Madisyn Leard pitched six innings to pick up the victory.

 

El Capitan 3, Golden Valley 2 – Ellery Hunter pitched a complete game, surrendering just three hits, a walk and striking out five to propel the Gauchos to their first CCC victory. El Capitan improves to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in the CCC.

 

Baseball

El Capitan 13, Buhach Colony 1 – The Gauchos resumed CCC play on Monday with a lopsided victory over the Thunder behind Noah Ruiz’s two hits and four RBIs. El Capitan jumped on Buhach Colony with an eight-run first inning. Aidan Witt had three hits, including a triple and two runs and two RBIs for the Gauchos (13-7 overall, 6-1 CCC). Brennan Casey added three hits and two RBIs and Zach Hunter pitched four innings to pick up the win.

 

Atwater 5, Los Banos 3 – The Falcons scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to erase a 2-1 deficit and pull out the victory. Logan Sanchez drove in two runs and Andres Reyna collected three hits to lead the Atwater offense. Julian Madriz struck out eight in six innings to pick up the victory and Sanchez closed out the game. The Falcons improved to 14-41 overall and 5-2 in the CCC.

 

Merced 7, Golden Valley 3 – Bryce Jimenez hit two doubles and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Bears to a victory over the Cougars. Michael Whalen-Flores and Connor Vitelli both collected three hits and scored twice for the Bears and Vicente Cortez added two RBIs. Luis Pineda pitched into the seventh inning to pick up the win on the mound.

 

Johansen 4, Livingston 3 – The Vikings scored three runs in the fifth inning to erase a 2-1 deficit and defeat the Wolves on Tuesday.

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.