College Hoops: For PC men, less is more
Sometimes a baseball seems to be magnetically attracted to a fielder’s glove.
During the Porterville College baseball team’s 4-2 loss to Barstow Tuesday afternoon, the ball always seemed to find a glove.
The Pirates were coming off of a doubleheader split with Lassen on Saturday, and Tuesday’s matchup marked the starting debuts of two local products: former Porterville High School first baseman Dylan Peevy and Monache High School utilityman Jose Prieto.
“He did well behind the plate,” head coach Ben Walkowiak said of Prieto. “He’s shown he’s capable of playing well anywhere I put him.”
To illustrate how the ball seemed to seek out Barstow gloves, in the ninth inning Porterville freshman Marcos Alvarez was robbed of a base hit thanks to a diving catch in the outfield. Freshman Nick Haskins later came up to bat with two outs. He hit the ball hard, but it shot straight towards Vikings sophomore pitcher Nicholas Winkler, who reacted quickly and caught it, ending the game.
“All we’re asking of them is to hit the ball hard,” Walkowiak said. “Sometimes if finds people. That’s baseball.”
Freshman Lucas Hugie started on the mound on Tuesday and went seven innings before being replaced by lefty freshman Adam Bustos.
Though the bats weren’t working (there were eight Pirates left on base through six innings), the defense behind Hugie was strong for most of the game. Sophomore shortstop Pedro Aguirre had a great day of fielding, at one point being the man responsible for all three outs in the ninth inning. Prieto, who played as the catcher, successfully threw a runner out at second base in the top of the fourth inning.
“I feel confident at shortstop,” Aguirre said, after missing most of last year with injury. “I like how the pitchers are working.”
Porterville scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning, when sophomore Gilbert Ortega smacked a grounder up the middle which helped Aguirre touch home plate.
Barstow scored one run in each of the second and third innings, and two in the fifth inning when the bases were loaded.
The Pirates got one run back in the bottom of the seventh inning when Alvarez recorded a leadoff triple down the left field line. Haskins then hit a sacrifice fly ball, but before Alvarez was called safe at home, he had to avoid the catcher which made him overshoot home plate. In a scramble off the ground, he reached out for home plate on the second try and was called safe.
Winlker ended up pitching a complete game for the Vikings. Walkowiak gave him credit for being consistent in the location of his pitches.
“He kept the ball down in the zone,” Walkowiak said. “He was consistent all day.”
The Pirates will have a rematch with Barstow on Thursday, but on the road. Aguirre said the team will be confident going into that matchup.
“Hopefully,” he said about getting revenge. “We know how they pitch, their weaknesses. They like to pound it down in the zone.”
Haskins and Ortega each finished with a hit, an RBI and a walk. Porterville is now 3-3 overall.