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Boys Baseball Team
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Batters Ripon in TVL Opener

The Riverbank boys battered Ripon Christian 13-3 in a home Trans Valley League opener on Tuesday,

Varsity baseballer Cody Avey went 3-for-4 with three runs and a stolen base, while fellow Bruin Adan Mercado was 2-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs and a stolen base, and Drew Villalobos went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs.

Scattering11 hits to their opponents six, the Bruins gathered three runs in the first inning, six in the second, three in the third and one more in the fifth.

Gathering a single run in each of the first, third and fourth innings, RC committed five errors to Riverbank's zero.

"Andy (Villlabos) pitched all five innings and struck out seven batters," said Bruin coach Mike Carrigg. "We showed how good a team we can be. That was before we went right back down against Hughson to where we were last year."

In Wednesday's game against Hughson, brought forward one day because of Hughson High School activities, Riverbank was leading 3-1 going into the fourth inning. That was before a couple of hits by Hughson and a number of errors by Riverbank led to the Bruins losing at 12-4.

'They scored six runs in the fourth and we were never able to catch up after that. The lead was insurmountable," said Carrigg.

"Zack Swanson threw well for three innings. We got a lot of guys on base, but we could not get them in."

Riverbank could have stretched their lead to 5-1 early in the game if they had not walked a couple of Hughson's batters in the fourth inning.

Hughson followed its six-run barrage in the fourth inning with another three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, while Riverbank scored only once more in the sixth.

The Bruins scattered four hits to Hughson's 12 and made four, or twice as many errors.

Carriggs noted that this week's games, agianst Calaveras, Summerville and Waterford, are non-league. They will give the Bruins a chance to regroup before returning to league play.

Riverbank will then face Patterson next Tuesday, Ripon on Thursday and Hilmar on April 6, all in home games.