CALIFORNIA -- Southern Boone scored four runs in the third inning and eight runs in the fourth to run away with the 14-3 win in a run-ruled shorten game against California on Tuesday. The Eagles totaled 14 hits and four batters had multiple hits to lead the offensive attack that saw 12 players have an at-bat, and 10 of those 12 batters recording a hit.
"They're a solid ball club," said California coach Jason Gatlin. "They have 30 players on their team right now and they rotate players in and out. They keep a constant flow of bats right at you for the best matchup."
The diamond Pintos fell behind 2-0 after the top of the first inning, but California was able to push across a run to answer in its half of the inning. They each had very different ways of scoring those runs too.
Three Southern Boone batters walked in the inning and two reached on singles. The first run was walked in with the bases-loaded, and the other scored off a single by Gage Schupp.
"It's in their head," Gatlin said about starting slow. "There's nothing really I can do for that except have them as prepared as I can and hope they come out ready to go, ready to play."
California used power hitting to plate a runner in the first. Alex Dalbey lined a pitch to center and Jaden Barr doubled to left field, but courtesy runner, Jacob Adams, was out at third after he rounded the bag too hard.
After a relatively easy second inning, the Pintos ran into trouble in the third. Alex Anderson started things off with a double, then took third base on a wild pitch. Ethan O'keefe was hit by a pitch and Anderson scored after the two executed a double steal. Colin Vaughan homered to right field two batters later to push the lead to 5-1. Southern Boone scored one more in the inning off a Sam Bowles single to score Jake Salmons.
California answered with a run in the bottom half of the third, scoring Kyle Hofstetter when Barr reached on an error by the shortstop. But the Eagles tacked on eight in their next at-bat, essentially putting the game away.
Schupp's three-run home run was the highlight of the inning, extending the lead to 10-2. Also, Nate Isenberg had a two-out, two-RBI single, and Dale Cunningham followed that up with another two-out, two-RBI single to give the Eagles a 14-2 lead.
"The first inning wasn't too bad," Gatlin said. "Where we got into trouble was in the fourth inning. Things got a little crazier when they put up eight."
The Pintos had bases-loaded in the bottom of the fourth, but could only scratch away one run to make it a 14-3 game. Eli Freeman sent a shot to the second baseman, who appeared to catch it. When he went to make the transfer to his hand, the ball popped out, which confused the baserunners. After the dust settled, Freeman was safe, but the Eagles got an out at second and third to end the threat.
"They didn't give up, but we made some silly mistakes," Gatlin said. "The umpire on that play at second base never called whether it was a caught ball or if it was down. My baserunners didn't know what to do and the coaches didn't know what to call because we didn't know if it was a catch or not. We were kind of caught in-between."
Hunter Heimericks was 1-for-3 from the plate with an RBI and Sam Kirby was 1-for-1 with an RBI and a hit-by-pitch.
California will host Harrisburg Thursday at 5 p.m. and a 7:30 p.m. junior varsity game will follow.