The varsity baseball programs of Turlock and Pitman high schools keep winning, which means the race for the Central California Athletic League continues to be as tight as ever.
One game continues to separate the crosstown rivals as the third week of the conference play continues Wednesday and Friday.
The Bulldogs, the two-time defending CCAL champions, improved to 7-0 against conference opponents with a comeback victory against Enochs in Modesto on Monday. The Pride, meanwhile, pushed their league record to 6-1 after a 10-0 dismantling in five innings at home against Downey.
Turlock 6, Enochs 4 in Modesto
Turlock tagged Enochs starter Parker Johnson for four runs on seven hits and two walks over his five innings of work, and capped off the late innings with two runs against Javin Randhawa, who shut out the Pride back on March 27.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Owen McCord tagged an RBI single and two runs scored when a hard hit ball off the bat of Cameron Henard ate up the shortstop. The Eagles then scored four unanswered runs off Turlock starter Cooper Pacheco, including a three-spot in the third.
A Mason Hackler home run over the right field fence the very next inning tied the game at four, and gave the Bulldogs the spark they needed to brush off the blown lead.
In the sixth inning with Randhawa on in relief, Braiden Fuentes lined a single to left field to bring home the go-ahead run, Henard, who singled to lead off the inning.
Pacheco, who left the mound after 3.2 innings of work and four earned runs given up, provided timely insurance in the seventh inning with a solo home run to right field of his own.
With the two-run lead, Henard shut the door on the Eagles with a perfect seventh inning that included two of his five total strikeouts recorded out of the bullpen.
Pitman 10, Downey 0 in Turlock
Pitman entered the week as heavy favorites over Downey, a program whose only three conference wins have come against a winless Modesto High squad. The Pride, particularly Ben Vilhauer, was dominant from beginning to end.
Vilhauer, the starting pitcher batting third in the Pride lineup, gave himself a 1-0 in the first inning with an RBI single. About an hour later with his team holding an 8-0 advantage, Vilhauer smacked a double to deep center field to bring in two runs and trigger the 10-run mercy rule.
On the mound, the Pitman ace gave up just two hits and a walk while striking out six over five shutout innings. Vilhauer’s record improved to 6-1 and his ERA dipped to 2.39.
Despite the lopsided score, it took until the fifth inning for the game to be broken open. A sacrifice bunt from Julian Jacinto made it 2-0 in the second inning. Nathan Currie-Bennet tagged an RBI triple to center field in the fourth to extend the lead to 3-0 before the floodgates really opened.
Elias Mendez recorded an RBI single, Jesse Gutierrez and Currie-Bennet followed with consecutive two-run doubles, and Currie-Bennet scored two batters later on a wild pitch to set up Vilhauer’s fifth-inning walk off.
Current CCAL standings
Behind undefeated Turlock and one-loss Pitman is a significant gap of three games.
Tied for third place are Enochs and Downey at 3-4 in league play. Gregori sits in fifth with a 2-5 record against conference opponents. Modesto is winless through seven games.
Each team in the CCAL has eight games remaining.
The Bulldogs and Pride will cap off the regular season against each other in a three-game set the week of April 27, with the Monday and Friday games to be played at Pitman High and the Wednesday game to be held at the Mark de la Motte Field.
The rest of the week
Before the two local teams set their sights on one another in what is becoming one of the most anticipated clashes of the school year, they need to get through this week and the next.
The Bulldogs will be back at Mark de la Motte Field on Wednesday to welcome the Eagles. That series concludes Friday in Modesto.
The Pride will hit the road Wednesday to the Downey campus before the series wraps up back in north Turlock on Friday.
First pitch for the four remaining games this week is set for 4 p.m.
The penultimate week of the regular season will have Turlock matched with Modesto while the Pride will take on Gregori.
