The California High School baseball teams traveled to Tipton Monday night, where the varsity Pintos out-hit the Cardinals 11-5 to secure a 9-5 win.
"Our bats finally showed up," California Coach Dwight Fitzwater said. "We put together several back-to-back hits, which usually spells runs, and we made the most of them. It's not that we weren't hitting the ball hard before this game, but we were hitting right at someone. Today we hit where they weren't."
The Cardinals led 2-0 after the first inning, however, the Pintos brought four home in the second, thanks in part to a homerun and RBI by JT Trachsel, to lead 4-2 going into the third inning. California added four runs in the fourth to Tipton's one run, to lead 8-3 going into the fifth inning. The Cardinals scored two runs in the fifth to trail 8-5. The Pintos added one final run in the seventh to secure the win, 9-5.
Contributing multiple hit for California were Dylan Albertson with a double, single and RBI; Randy Allee with two singles and three RBI; and Alec Koelling with two singles and one RBI. Burke Brant, Tyler Silvey and Austin Gump each recorded a single. Brant also had one RBI.
Brant pitched 4 2/3 innings for California and recorded three strikeouts. Jason Wolverton pitched one inning of relief, and Zach Holliday pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to get the save.
"Our defense again was very good," Fitzwater said. "It makes it easy to pitch when we play that kind of defense. We shut down a couple of Tipton's big innings by making great plays. I was impressed with the Tipton hitters. All of them seem to be solid players and they have some big bats in their lineup. I think they are the best-hitting team we have faced so far this season."
California's JV lost 7-6 to Tipton in four innings (time expired).
Previously, California hosted Mexico Friday at the California Sports Complex, where the varsity lost 4-1 to the Bulldogs.
"Our offense was minimal, just like our first game," Fitzwater said. "We have to generate more runs. We're not going to win many games with just five singles."
After three scoreless innings, Mexico added two runs in the fourth, and California added one run in the fifth to trail 2-1. The Bulldogs scored two in the seventh to take the win, 4-1.
"Our pitching again wasn't sharp, but certainly good enough to win if we had scored a little bit," Fitzwater said.
Koelling was the starting pitcher for California and recorded the loss with three strikeouts. Brant
pitched relief and struckout two, followed by Bret Volmert and Holliday, who struck out one of the two batters he faced.
Koelling led California hits with two singles, while Brant, Trachsel and Silvey each recorded a single.
"We hit the ball hard, but it just seemed to be right at someone," Fitzwater said. "Again, I'm very happy with our defense and the fact that we only committed one error."
California's JV lost 12-2 to Mexico.
The Pintos will host Clinton Thursday, beginning with the varsity game at 4:30 p.m.