Coming off a rivalry victory, the Stanislaus Babe Ruth Cardinals battled in two doubleheader series this past weekend, beginning with a Friday matchup against Hollister and concluding on Sunday night against Bullard.
By the end of the weekend, the Cardinals had gone 3-1 to pick up the teams sixth victory of the season in eight games.
“It was a long weekend for our guys. We were happy with 3-1 but at the same time we got things to get better on,” said Cardinals head coach Bobby Swedberg. “We are not hitting the ball extremely well but not too much time till we get things going and should turn it around soon.”
In the first game against Hollister, Cardinals starter, Bradley Enos, executed the game plan to near perfection as the tall righty from Pitman was flawless once again, pitching six shutout innings and allowing only three hits and no runs as the Cards picked up the first win of the series.
With a tight 0-0 ball game in the seventh inning, Pitman's Dylan Robert's hit an RBI single to the left field gap which was followed by a Cody Cornell RBI single and the Cards retired the side in the bottom half of the seventh to secure the win.
In the second game against Hollister, the Cardinals found themselves with an opportunity to go up 2-0 in the series, but after falling early in the first inning, 0-3, the team had a tough time bouncing back as they dropped the game, 2-3.
Recent Turlock graduate Marcus Lopez started and pitched six innings, giving up three unearned runs in the first inning and then was lights out in the final five innings.
The Cardinals scored two before the game ended but it wasn't enough and the Cards picked up their first loss of the season.
“After they [Hollister] Marcus settled, but that inning gave us problem in the first,” said Swedberg. “We also didn't hit the ball hard and the runs they scored unfortunately cost us the game.”
With a loss under their belt, the Cardinals initiated a rebuttal as they had two home contests on Sunday against Bullard of Fresno.
The first game was a nail-biter with the Cardinals going down early and the 0-2 deficit went into the bottom of the sixth when finally, the Cardinals drew some walks and laid down the sacrifice bunts when needed.
Eventually, the Cardinals would pick up the win with the help of Bubba Moreno who drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth with an RBI single to win it 3-2.
Former Pitman Pride Trevor Chaney started the game as he tossed seven innings and struck out 10, giving up only three hits in the process.
“We could be better early in counts, we let some good pitches go by, but the balls we hit are directly at people but we can get better with hitting early and consistently,” said Swedberg.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Turlock's Cornell started and threw five innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out five.
Central Catholic's Matt Banks came in to relieve and pitched the remainder of the game, tossing two shutout innings and allowing no hits.
Moreno was once again the hero, picking up two RBI singles in the second and fifth inning and securing the team’s 3-0 win.
“Our pitching, all four of our starters threw great, we had some tough innings but they all did a great job with the defense behind them,” Swedberg said. “Everyone is playing more as a team and pitching will keep us in games and it gives us a chance to play competitive baseball and a chance to win.”
The Cardinals next game is against Ripon at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.