Day two of the 33rd Annual Atch Pedretti baseball tournament concluded on Friday after the Turlock Bulldogs fell to Gregori in extra innings, 4-3.
“We pitched really well the last two days and made some mental mistakes and got runs early,” said Turlock head coach Mark de la Motte. “They are one of the best teams in the area, so it was good competition. We have an inexperienced team but you have a team like this and hopefully we learn.”
Turlock has five underclassmen —all who are capable of starting.
“We have got some guys with big physical tools; we have some guys that are experienced. We have guys that are learning, but I have confidence that we will get better as the season carries on,” said de la Motte.
Some of the underclassmen who have already played after three games are Justin Hines, Mason Kind, Mike Mirza, Casey Carr and catcher Tyler Soderstrom.
Although the ‘Dogs lost their ace pitcher Damon Treadwell for the year after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, coach de la Motte is confident in the pitchers he has on his team.
“We have a lot of pitchers. We just have to give them some work in game situations and get guys to show us what they can do offensively and defensively,” said de la Motte.
Dallin Tilby looks to be the ace for Turlock this upcoming season and he started on Friday.
Tilby pitched five innings and allowed just one run.
“We lost Damon but Dallin stepped in from basketball, first outing and is on a pitch limit but he will be our best guy,” said de la Motte. “However, we have five or six other guys who are fighting for time. We have a lot of left handers as well so it’s encouraging. We’ve got depth, but we have to develop it.”
Turlock led 3-0 before Gregori cut the lead to 3-2 heading into the sixth.
From there Gregori scored one in the top of the sixth and followed with a run in the eighth that sealed the victory.
“I think you are going to see our guys get better and more confidence,” said de la Motte. “It’s all the best players at varsity. We haven’t moved many guys up in the past but we graduated 11 guys from last year and they need to get experience in game situations and game speed so we have to improve fast.”
Turlock once again hopes to chase the Central California Conference in a year that looks to be wide open.
“We hope to compete in league, that is the goal for everyone. We got some key returners and have guys who will step up. We will miss Damon tremendously, it’s unfortunate, but he will be okay,” de la Motte added.
Turlock also has a pair of brothers on the team in Kayleb and Jacob Becerra, who are one of the brother tandems as well as Tate and Tyler Soderstrom.
