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Lancers stymie Manteca’s late rally to take fiery series opener
Manteca-East Union baseball
Brayden Camara is welcomed back to home plate by East Union teammate Ryan Allen after his two-run homer gave the Lancers an early lead in the second inning Monday against visiting Manteca. - photo by JONAMAR JACINTO/The Bulletin

 Power hitting, clutch pitching and defense and a dash of controversy were the main ingredients of a spicy series opener between cross-town rivals Manteca and host East Union at Maurice Agostini Field on Monday.

Brayden Camara’s early two-run home run was ultimately the difference, as EU held on for the much-needed 5-4 victory.

Although the Lancers (8-8, 14-12 overall) went into their final three-game set of the Valley Oak League season in good standing for at least an at-large postseason bid, they’d rather not leaving it to chance.

The top three teams in the VOL earn automatic berths. Teams finishing outside of the top three can still advance as at-large qualifiers by earning a top 15 MaxPreps rankings in their Sac-Joaquin Section divisions. East Union is No. 8 in Division IV, while Manteca (10-6, 18-7) — third place in the VOL behind Oakdale (13-5, 16-9) and Central Catholic (13-4, 17-6) — is seventh in Division III.

“It’s win or go home, at this point,” Camara said. “We need to sweep this series to get in, so we’re going to put it all on the line and try to win every game.”

The Lancers plated the first five runs of the game, and Camara drove in the first two in the second. He drilled the 1-1 offering from Manteca sophomore ace Nate Slikker (four innings, five runs, four earned runs, four strikeouts, six hits) and launched it over the right-center field fence.

“I was expecting he would start off (with) off-speed — curveball or change-up, something like that,” Camara said. “When I saw the curveball come out of the hand, I took a good swing, and I just knew it was the one.”

He finished 2-for-3 with two runs and even came up with a tough, foul-ball catch near East Union’s dugout fence. That was for the final out of the third inning, and it left two Manteca runners on base.

Manteca-East Union baseball
East Union starting pitcher George Mendoza delivers against Manteca in the top of the fourth inning Monday at Maurice Agostini Field.

The defense earlier came up big for starting pitcher George Mendoza (4 2/3 innings, four runs, five walks, strikeout) in the second. With two runners on and no outs, first baseman Joe Alvarez and shortstop Blake Mount combined for a 3-6-3 double play. Then in the fourth, catcher Kirk Simoni threw out the leadoff batter on a steal attempt at second for the first out.

“That play was huge,” East Union coach Dan Bauer said of the double play. “Joe picked it nicely over there at first, worked his way back to the bag, and Blake threw a nice, clean shot back to him. That’s just the guys competing. That’s what we’re preaching to our guys. Every at-bat, every single play, the two things that we can control is our attitude and effort. So, if we compete our butts off, good things can happen.”

East Union’s lead swelled in the fourth. Simoni knocked in Camara with a double, and Nos. 8 and 9 batters Shane Lewis and Randy Martinez added two-out doubles of their own. Martinez ended up scoring an important insurance run after stealing third and advancing home on an overthrown pick-off.

Manteca-East Union baseball
Manteca runner Eddie Anthony slides into the tag of East Union second baseman Ryan Allen on a stolen-base attempt in the top of the fourth inning.

Manteca’s offense finally came alive in the fifth, getting RBI doubles from Eddie Anthony and Slikker. Chris Chavez (singled) and Cameron Jimenez (sacrifice fly) also batted in runs, as the Buffaloes closed in, 5-4.

Reliever Efren Diaz got East Union out of the rut by inducing a pop fly to himself on his first pitch of the game. He then retired all three hitters he faced in the sixth, and Alvarez took over in the seventh to close.

“We did not have a very good approach today,” Manteca coach Mark Ruiz said. “We just wasted a lot of ABs (at-bats) and didn’t have our best effort today, for whatever reason.”

Manteca-East Union baseball
Manteca left fielder Carson Sablan makes the diving catch to rob East Union of a bases hit in the third inning.

Manteca had a chance to extend the game in the seventh.

Freshman call-up Brody Carabello (2 for 3, double, run) was hit by a pitch and was bunted to second by Chavez. Slikker walked, and both runners advanced to scoring position on Jimenez’s groundout to shortstop.

Then controversy struck with Anthony at the plate. With the count at 1-2, Diaz looked to pick off Carabello at third and was initially called for the balk. After a brief conference between the two umpires, Carabello was returned to third base.

With the count at 1-2, the game ended with Anthony hitting a routine chopper to the second baseman.

Sophomore reliever Jimmy Burns was a bright spot for Manteca, as he cooled off the Lancers’ bats in the final two innings. He worked quickly and efficiently, striking out three of the six batters he faced.

The Buffaloes will look to even the series on their senior night Wednesday. Game 3 is back at Agostini Field on Friday.

Manteca-East Union baseball
Manteca first baseman Cameron Jimenez receives the pick-off throw as East Union’s Peyton Heath stretches for the bag.