CALIFORNIA - In a game that had five total hits from both teams, winning the contest would come down to just one of those, as Jamestown's starting pitcher Alex Gerlach wishes he could have a pitch back.
"He needed to get that one a little more outside," said Jamestown coach Jordan Hoecker. "Jaden (Barr) hit that one far."
Barr sent a line drive to left-center field with the bases-loaded in the fifth inning to give California a 4-2 lead, its first lead of the game. The Pintos went on to defeat Jamestown by that score in the first game on the new baseball field at the California High School sports complex on Thursday.
"Jaden does what he does," said California coach Jason Gatlin. "The bases were loaded, and when we have guys on in front of him, then we can usually make something happen."
The three-run triple was set up by costly errors on the Jamestown defense. After Kyle Lee reached first base on a fielder's choice, while Eli Freeman was thrown out at third, Jacob Wolken and Kory Stephens loaded the bases by the two fielding errors. Then, Barr took the first pitch he saw to the left-center field fence, one of the deepest parts of the field.
"I thought overall, we had some good spots and some bad spots," Hoecker said. "We hit the ball hard a couple of time, it just went right to them. Then they made more plays than us. We had that inning where we gave them five outs."
Two of the Eagles' three errors came in the fifth, the other came in the first inning, which allowed the Pintos to tie the game 1-1.
"It's baseball," Hoecker said. "We have to make the plays when they're handed to you."
Jamestown's Garrett Wolfe scored in the top of the first after he reached first base on a fielder's choice then stole second. Christian DeVore singled to right to bring home Wolfe and give the Eagles the early 1-0 lead.
"They were amped up early, there was a lot of energy out there," said Gatlin. "I thought we came out with a little too much, but we settled down and got some timely hitting."
California did answer in its half of the inning. With two outs and no Pintos on base, Barr walked and Heimericks singled to center field. The center fielder tried to making a diving catch, but couldn't come up with it, which allowed Barr to race around the bases to tie the game.
Barr contributed to all four runs, batting 1-for-2 from the plate with three RBI and one run scored.
The Eagles retook the lead in the fourth inning, as Wyatt Hunziker hit a ground ball to the pitcher, but when trying to get the lead runner, he threw the ball into left field. Colton DeVore scored easily to make it a 2-1 Jamestown lead. Earlier in the inning, Evan Knierim was out at home as the Pintos got the leader runner on the fielder's choice.
Jamestown did not record a hit for the rest of the game.
"I thought we were hitting the ball well for the most part," Hoecker said. "We didn't make the adjustments that we needed to make early enough. We hit (the ball) right at them, and we need to make those adjustments sooner."
Alex Dalbey got the start on the bump for California, giving up two runs - one earned - on two hits in four innings of work. Hunter Heimericks pitched the final three innings in relief, allowing no hits.
"I thought they did fantastic," Gatlin said. "It's getting towards the end of the season, so I really don't have to save anybody. We worked Alex two times through the lineup, then we brought in (Heimericks) so they had something fresh coming right at them."
Gerlach pitched six innings for the Eagles, allowing four unearned runs on three hits while striking out seven.
In the junior varsity game, the Pintos got the better of Jamestown 7-2.
Issac Wells started the game on the hill for California, striking out five while allowing one hit and two unearned runs. Jacob Wolken and Greg Schroeter pitched the final three innings, neither allowed any hits or runs, as both struck out three.
Jacob Adams was 3-for-3 with two RBI and Schroeter was 3-for-3 with an RBI to lead the offense who scored three runs in the first and third innings to run away from the Eagles.
California worked hard to make the games happen on the new field, as the game was delayed 15 minutes from its normal 5 p.m. start time. Pregame celebrations caused the delay, and workers finished up last minute preparations just before the teams took infield practice.
"There was so much energy down there on the field tonight," Gatlin said. "It was exciting. They worked it down to the wire."