Pitman High baseball's hiccup in Wednesday’s loss to Lodi wasn’t anything to worry about — at least not for John Acha’s veteran group.
The Pride were able to come back on Thursday afternoon, boasting back-to-back wins in this year’s 32nd Annual Atch Pedretti Tournament.
In the earlier game, Pitman toppled Oakdale 9-3 and followed it with a 7-4 win over Modesto to end the tourney with a 2-1 record.
“We are just cleaning up the defense and understanding where to be at all times,” said Acha. “We got to see some good teams and see where we need to be since we were limited with rain, so it was nice to get in three games this week and live pitching and learning to make adjustments.”
Pitman is now 5-1 to begin preseason play.
“Learning how to adjust on both sides, whether it’s pitching or hitting, we take away all that from preseason,” said Acha.
In Wednesday’s loss to Lodi, starting pitcher Jacob Jordan was lights out against the Pride after allowing just one run on six hits and two walks.
Jordan struck out only three but managed to keep the Pride hitters off.
“Lodi's pitcher kept us off balance and we never made adjustments. They made some clutch plays when they needed it and we gave away a few. We will learn from it and get better,” said Acha.
The Pride were quick to recover and forget the loss, securing the team’s fourth and fifth wins of the year on Thursday after making necessary adjustments.
In the first game against Oakdale, the Pride started Bradley Enos, who tossed five innings, struck out five and allowed just three runs.
Pitman jumped out early with a three-run inning in the first that was highlighted by an Anthony Encalade RBI single which was followed by a Dylan Roberts two-run double.
“That clutch hit by Dylan really got us going,” said Acha.
Oakdale battled back and tied it at 3-3 heading into the fourth inning before the Pride went off.
The Pride scored four runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a Joey Romeo two-run double as Pitman never looked back and secured the win.
“Oakdale battled back but we just made key hits and walked some guys as well and attacked a bit more than the previous game,” said Acha.
Roberts was 3-for-4 with three RBI in that game.
In the third and final game against Modesto, the Pride went ahead early in the opening inning, scoring three runs after Colton Evans led off the inning with a hit.
Four innings later, Modesto tied it 4-4 heading into the sixth before the Pride notched three runs to go up and hold on to the lead.
“Going up early really helped and Modesto is a good team,” Acha added. “A scrappy team, they will put the ball in play and they tied it. We had good at bats and clutch hitting and patience at the plate, nobody pressed and we took pitches we needed, everyone did a good job.”
Next for Pitman will be a road contest against Stagg High of Stockton at 6 p.m. March 21.
