The Atwater High baseball team continued their hot start to the season as they defeated Buhach Colony for the second this week with an 8-3 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Buhach Colony High School.

 

The Falcons received six strong innings from Julian Madriz and offensively rallied for four runs in the second and three runs in the fifth inning to secure the victory to improve to 7-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Central California Conference. The crosstown rivals will conclude the three-game series on Friday at Memorial Ballpark at 7 p.m. 

Even though it’s a lineup littered with juniors and sophomores, it’s full of players who know how to work at-bats.  “Most of the team is back from last year so they know the expectations,” said Atwater coach Jarrod Pimentel. “This team has really good veteran leadership and they are pulling on the same end of the rope.”

 

The Falcons have scored 23 runs in the two wins against Buhach Colony and are averaging 7.5 runs per game. “One of the things we preach is having a good two-strike approach and just putting the ball into play,” Pimentel said.  “Making the defense play catch sometimes leads to good innings.”

That was on display in the four-run second inning against the Thunder. Hudson Pimentel reached on an error to start the inning, was balked to second and advanced to third on a ground ball. Logan Sanchez followed with a run-scoring double, stole third and scored on an RBI single by Cooper Lanum. Mathias Cole later delivered a two-run single to extend the Falcons’ lead to 4-1.

 

Madriz struck out seven and surrendered five hits and a walk in six innings on the mound. Two of three runs he gave up were unearned. Kayson Faulk led Atwater’s offense with three hits. Sanchez drove in two runs and Lanum, Hudson Pimentel and Navarro all scored two runs. The Falcons were aggressive on the bases, stealing six bases. 

 

Jacob Medina went 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI for the Thunder, who dropped to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the CCC. 

El Capitan 8, Merced 0 – Benny Centeno pitched five scoreless innings and Aidan Witt and Angel Rivera each had two hits and two RBIs to help the Gauchos defeat Merced for the second time this week. El Capitan improved to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the CCC.

 

Centeno struck out five, walked none and surrendered five hits in his five innings on the mound. Rivera connected on a double and a triple at the plate. Cooper Gaoiran doubled twice and scored a run for the Gauchos. The two teams will finish off the three-game series on Friday at 7 p.m. at Merced High.

Los Banos 13, Golden Valley 3 – The Tigers evened up their-three game series against the Cougars. Golden Valley dropped to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the CCC. The two teams will play on Friday at 4 p.m. at Doug Fister Field.