Friday, Mar. 08, 2013

Pacheco resolute against visiting Gustine

Earlier this season Pacheco used defense to defeat Gustine 6-2.

On Saturday, the Panthers used their bats to defeat Gustine 9-6 on the return trip of a home-and-home series.

And Pacheco needed its offense after Gustine jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a single, a walk, a two-run error and an RBI single by Tyler Villalobos.

Pacheco responded by loading the bases for catcher Victor Cortez in the bottom of the inning with an error, an Omar Sierra double and a walk.

Cortez cleared the bases with a triple down the right field line, and later scored on an error.

"It was just a regular fastball. I just sat back, calmed down and just hit a pretty good shot," Cortez said. "I thought that it was a good hit, but I don't think I was expecting a triple."

Gustine tied the score in the fourth when Albert Rios scored on a passed ball, but Pacheco again responded in the bottom of the inning, with Sierra driving home two with a single.

"Obviously we didn't start off the way we did the last game. We gave up some runs early, made a couple of mistakes, and that kind of put us in a hole," Pacheco coach Joey Costa said. "I liked the resiliency of my team to not just fold up. We were down right away and we came back and got in the game. That was a major positive that I saw from this game versus the other game, where we had the lead the whole time."

Pacheco extended its cushion in the fifth with run-scoring singles by Mark Garcia and Rafael Bojorquez, giving the Panthers breathing space for when Gustine scored two in the top of the sixth, centered around a Ruben Sanchez triple.

"Right now we're just working on everything -- fundamentals, just trying to get everything together," Cortez said. "We're starting to gel, so this young team's starting to look good, and I think we'll be a force to be reckoned with when it comes time for league."

Pacheco's Kenneth Remulla earned the win with 4.2 innings of work before Richard Soliz finished the last 2.1 innings for the save.

"(Soliz) came in and threw strikes and gave us a chance. It's frustrating when we're not throwing strikes and we're giving up free bags, so it's good to have guys that can be able to come in and throw strikes," Costa said. "I'm preaching to these guys to pitch to contact, and that's what we're doing. We were letting them put the ball in play and letting the D work behind us. So I was pretty satisfied with that."

Pacheco (4-2) played Ripon on Thursday (results were unavailable at press time), and travels to Dos Palos today.

Gustine hosted Los Banos High on Monday, a 12-0 win for the Tigers (3-0). LB's Chris Castillo smacked a pair of home runs on his way to 4 RBI.

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com