Bruin pitcher Drew Villalobos was doing well against Escalon in his last outing as a senior and Riverbank's final game of the season. He'd given up only four hits and neither side had scored up to the fifth inning.
Then disaster struck. With the bases loaded, Cougar Ross Brayton clouted a Villalobos pitch for a homer and scored three runs. That's where the away game ended at 3-0 in Escalon's favor.
"I felt sorry for Andy, It was his only error. He'd beaten Ripon the previous week and had come on strong in the last few weeks," said his coach Mike Carrigg.
Villalobos walked the first batter in the fifth inning. The second got on base through an error at third by Daniel DeCroix. Then Brayton, on his first pitch, connected for a homer, although it barely cleared the fence.
But both the Cougar pitching and batting was strong. Their slugging included six hits and featured a couple of doubles in addition to the homer, Carrigg noted. An infield hit by Kyle Rotan was all that Riverbank could muster.
"This year gave us some of the best pitching we've had in a long time," said Carrigg. "But we struggled to put up runs."
In a previous home game on Wednesday, the Bruins fell, 7-2, to Livingston. This game also featured a home run, in fact two of them, and both by Livingston.
Riverbank opened the scoring with a run in the first inning and scored another in the sixth. But Livingston scattered 11 hits to Riverbank's two. The Bruins opposition scored one ruin in the first inning, two in the third, two in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
"We played a decent game until they got that homer in the third.' said Carrigg. "Our offense was weak. It's been that way all year. If we get behind a few runs, we never seem to catch up."
Zac Swanson opened the pitching for Riverbank. Jason Canada took over the mound in the sixth inning. He also collected a double in the seventh. But that was the Bruins only real hit.
"Livingston played good defense," Carrigg commented. "And they had two good pitchers
Riverbank ended the season Friday with a 5-8 record in the Trans Valley League.
"But a couple of games were really close. We had a bad stretch in the middle of the season but did OK otherwise,' Carrigg concluded.
Then disaster struck. With the bases loaded, Cougar Ross Brayton clouted a Villalobos pitch for a homer and scored three runs. That's where the away game ended at 3-0 in Escalon's favor.
"I felt sorry for Andy, It was his only error. He'd beaten Ripon the previous week and had come on strong in the last few weeks," said his coach Mike Carrigg.
Villalobos walked the first batter in the fifth inning. The second got on base through an error at third by Daniel DeCroix. Then Brayton, on his first pitch, connected for a homer, although it barely cleared the fence.
But both the Cougar pitching and batting was strong. Their slugging included six hits and featured a couple of doubles in addition to the homer, Carrigg noted. An infield hit by Kyle Rotan was all that Riverbank could muster.
"This year gave us some of the best pitching we've had in a long time," said Carrigg. "But we struggled to put up runs."
In a previous home game on Wednesday, the Bruins fell, 7-2, to Livingston. This game also featured a home run, in fact two of them, and both by Livingston.
Riverbank opened the scoring with a run in the first inning and scored another in the sixth. But Livingston scattered 11 hits to Riverbank's two. The Bruins opposition scored one ruin in the first inning, two in the third, two in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
"We played a decent game until they got that homer in the third.' said Carrigg. "Our offense was weak. It's been that way all year. If we get behind a few runs, we never seem to catch up."
Zac Swanson opened the pitching for Riverbank. Jason Canada took over the mound in the sixth inning. He also collected a double in the seventh. But that was the Bruins only real hit.
"Livingston played good defense," Carrigg commented. "And they had two good pitchers
Riverbank ended the season Friday with a 5-8 record in the Trans Valley League.
"But a couple of games were really close. We had a bad stretch in the middle of the season but did OK otherwise,' Carrigg concluded.
