Turlock High’s baseball team completed a three-game Central California Athletic League sweep of Gregori in dramatic fashion on Thursday, beating the Jaguars 2-1 in eight innings at Mark de La Motte Field.
With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 3-0 in league play and 8-4 overall, while Gregori stands at 0-3, 5-7. Downey High, which opened CCAL play with a three-game sweep of Modesto, shares the league’s top spot with THS.
In the top of the eighth inning, Gregori had runners on first and second with nobody out, when Carter Crivelli delivered the defensive play of the contest.
The senior center fielder hauled in a line drive off the bat of the third Gregori batter for out No. 1, then fired a perfect strike to catcher Owen Miller to nail the runner who was trying to tag up from third on the play.
The ball was hit right at Crivelli and as he came in toward the ball, he realized he’d mistimed it a bit and had to jump to make the play.
“It was probably better that I did,” said Crivelli. “It gave me a little more momentum to make the throw.”
Mason Baker, who went the distance for the ’Dogs and scattered seven hits and two walks while fanning seven, struck out the next batter to escape the jam.
Josh Ramirez led off the bottom of the eighth with a single up the middle and Crivelli, attempting to bunt him into scoring position, legged out a hit instead.
“In the at-bat before, I pushed a bunt to the right side to get Josh over,” said Crivelli. “I think they were expecting me to bunt again, but I put down a drag bunt and caught them off guard.
Miller then grounded to short, but the speedy Crivelli beat the throw to second and the bases were loaded for Carson Gonzales, who drew a walk that plated the winning run.
Turlock won the opener of the series at De la Motte Field 8-1 then came back to win 18-7 in Modesto on Wednesday. In that game, Tyler Castro was 3-for-3 with five RBIs and a pair of runs scored, while Miller was 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored, and a pair of ribbies. The Bulldogs scored six runs in the top of the first, then nearly coughed up the entire lead after yielding five runs in the bottom of the frame. However, holding a 9-7 lead entering the fifth, Turlock scored nine runs to itself in position for an abbreviated mercy-rule victory.
Turlock will travel to the coast on Wednesday for the opening round of the 16-team Central Coast Baseball Classic, which will be held at four Central Coast locations: Paso Robles, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo and Righetti high schools.
The Bulldogs will open against Pleasant Valley (Chico) at 3 p.m. on April 3; then take on Westlake (Westlake Village) at 3 and Paso Robles at 6 on April 4; and close with Amador Valley (Pleasanton) at 10 a.m. on April 5. Turlock will play all of its games at Paso Robles High.
