Big fourth inning leads to blowout victory for California

<p>Democrat photo/Kevin Labotka</p><p>Above: Carson Ash pitches during California’s 14-1 win over Eugene on March 18.</p>

Democrat photo/Kevin Labotka

Above: Carson Ash pitches during California’s 14-1 win over Eugene on March 18.

EUGENE, Mo. - The California Pintos baseball team (1-0) won its first game of the season 14-1 against the Eugene Eagles (1-2). An 11-run fourth inning was what the Pintos used to put the Eagles away.

The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth inning, when California got a couple of runners on base due to hustle plays by the Pintos and errors by the Eagles. The scoring started with one out in the inning, when Clayton Winkler stole second then made it to third thanks to a bad throw from Eugene's catcher. Winkler then dove to home plate to make it a 1-0 lead for the Pintos.

After loading the bases later in the inning, Kraig Walker hit an RBI single to make it 2-0, then the Pintos made it 3-0 the very next batter thanks to another single by Carson Ash. A pitching change by the Eagles did not stop the Pintos' attack as three walks in a row made it 6-0. The Pintos continued to add on before ending the inning up 11-0.

Head coach Steven Stock said the hustle the team showed provided the momentum.

"When you are in the fourth inning, and it is 0-0, and Clayton got on base, stole a base and just hustled along and got us a run that gave us the momentum," Stock said. "Next thing you know, the momentum turns into a big inning; so hustle is huge."

Eugene would score one run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Pintos did not allow them to get any closer. Ash pitched four innings for California, where he gave up one run on three hits and struck out three batters.

The Pintos would add three more runs in the top of the fifth inning. Two of came off the bat of Hayden Green, who hit a two-run home run.

On offense, Walker led the Pintos with two hits and four RBIs, Green had three RBIs on one hit, and Calen Kruger had one hit and two RBIs.

California scored 14 runs on eight hits. On defense, the Pintos had one error. Eugene scored one run on three hits and had six errors on defense.

Stock said the team can take away the importance of putting the bat on the ball.

"In the first inning, we flew out four or five times, and we talked in between the second and third inning and said, 'Just hit the ball on the ground.'"

"In the high school level, if you hit the ball on the ground, you have a chance to get on, and next thing you know we hit a bunch of ground balls, and they struggled to field them and that allowed us to score a few runs."