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Pitman over Turlock in Pedretti final
Pride earn second tournament championship in three years
pedretti
Pitmans Dakota Spillers prepares a pitch during the first inning of Saturdays Atch Pedretti Tournament championship game. - photo by FRANKIE TOVAR / The Journal

It was a rematch of rivals on Saturday during the championship game of the 30th annual Atch Pedretti Tournament. Around this time last year, Turlock and Pitman High clashed over the Pedretti championship for the first time in the tournament’s history, with the Bulldogs emerging victorious by landslide victory.

But this time around the Pride returned the favor as they beat their Bulldog counterparts in a lopsided win of their own, 9-3, to earn their second Pedretti championship in the past three years.

“It definitely gives us a little confidence going into league. No matter who we would have beaten, it’s nice to end your preseason with a win, especially a championship win,” Pitman head coach John Acha said.

“They pitched pretty well and they struck us out ten times. We also made a few errors; it wasn’t a good combination,” Turlock head coach Mark de la Motte said.

Turlock came out roaring in the bottom of the first inning with a three run effort only to have Pitman respond with four runs of their own in the top of the second as Matt Carrigg, Dakota Spillers, Trevor Chaney, and Colton Evans notched RBIs.

“We have a pretty strong lineup and I don’t think they tried to do too much. They just say in there and knew that if they put the ball in play good things could happen,” Acha said.

After watching the Bulldogs notch three runs with two outs on the board in the first inning, Spillers tightened the reigns from the mound until Carrigg took over pitching duties in the fourth inning to close out the game. Carrigg finished with seven strike-outs while Spillers finished with three.

“Dakota threw well that first inning; we just didn’t make some plays behind him. But he bounced back beyond our expectations; he really started being a competitor,” Acha said. “He gave us a few innings like we had hoped for and then Matt came in and threw strikes and did real well.”

While the Pride’s defense did its job, Carrigg and co. continued to attack their rivals from the plate, too, as the sophomore notched two more RBIs in the sixth inning before earning another in the seventh.

Carrigg finished with a total of four RBIs with Evans right behind him with two RBIs.

 “They got some key hits and we made some mistakes that helped them along the way. It wasn’t our best day,” de la Motte said.

Saturday marked the first loss of the season for Turlock. Its players will now look to bounce back in today’s Central California Conference opener against Buhach Colony High.

“Getting beat in a big game gives you a chance to reflect and redouble your efforts. We’ll get a fresh start this week with league,” de la Motte said.

As for Pitman, its players will face off against Golden Valley High in today’s league opener as they attempt to kickoff CCC play with a bang and avoid a letdown.

“I told these guys, ‘don’t be that team that should have been, make sure by the end of the year you did anything and everything you could to play up to your potential,’” Acha said.