IN SPORTS: TOKAY WINS SECOND IN A ROW
Victor Nateras was battling the flu bug earlier this week.
But the Tokay High baseball pitcher made Lincoln feel ill on Thursday night.
A pep talk from one of the Tigers’ assistant coach helped Nateras and Tokay made quick work of the Trojans in a key situation that led to a 65 Tri-City Athletic League win at Zupo Field. This was the Tigers’ second consecutive win over Lincoln this week; Tokay went 10 innings to knock out the Trojans 3-1 on Lincoln’s field on Tuesday.
Tokay (2-6 in the TCAL, 8-11 overall) led 6-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Then Lincoln batters Kevin Gomez and Zachary Morgan strung together back-to-back singles. After Nateras struck out the next Trojan batter for the Tigers’ first out, Lincoln’s Samuel Bones made no bones about his appearance at the plate, hitting a triple deep to left field to drive in Gomez and Morgan to trim the score to 6-4.
A line drive to Tokay first baseman Diego Ramirez caught gave the Tigers two outs. But the Trojans added another extra-base hit in the inning, another triple by Nikko Dowd that drove in Bones home and the score to what would amount to be as the final score.
That’s when Tokay assistant coach Robby Wright went to the mound and talked with Nateras.
“(Wright) told me I was the best pitcher, and to finish through,” Nateras said. “My confidence in my team and in my pitches outpowered it.”
Added Tokay coach Pat Macfarlane, “He (Nateras) gut it out. We got the win.”
Lincoln’s next batter saw three straight pitches — two down the middle and the final one outside of the plate in the strike zone. The final one left him striking out looking, and another league win for the Tigers.
In the top of the sixth frame, Lincoln (3-5 in the TCAL, 8-12) scored two runs off six hits from Morgan, Evan Nelson, Bones, Connor Westphal, Dowd and Michael Wanklin. The Tigers committed an infield error.
Tokay used six of its eight hits to score five of its runs in the bottom of the third inning with one out. Leadoff hitter Cory Glasgow reached first base on a Trojan infield error. He circled to third base on designated hitter Joseph Heryford’s single to center field. Both touched home plate on Ryan Lew’s double for a 3-0 lead.
That extra-base hit seemed to have triggered the Tigers’ bats in the inning. Ramirez doubled to left field, followed by a triple from Hugo Velasquez. A single from Dylan Mahurin added up to the Tigers’ lead to 6-0.
Tokay had only two hits in the final three innings; singles from Heryford (2for-3, RBI) and Ramirez (2-for-2). But moving them around the bases to home plate was a task that the Tigers were unable to finish during the game.
“Once we get those (early) runs, you have to keep adding on,” Macfarlne said. “Our situational hitting was not good.”
Glasgow walked, stole second base and scored on Lew’s grounder gave Tokay a 1-0 lead in its first at-bat in the first inning.
Lincoln outhit Tokay with 12. On top of that, Macfarlane has players playing in spots they usually don’t play, and players absent because of a science field trip and illness.
“We have a lot of the flu going on,” Macfarlane said. “We’re real short on pitching right now.”
On the mound, Nateras struck out one and walked one.
Tokay and Lincoln wrap up their series today on the Trojans’ field.
“We have a chance to win nine in a row,” said Macfarlane, whose Tigers close out the regular season with a bestof-three series against West next week and cross-town and league rival Lodi the week after. “We got two, and need seven more.”