Asleep for the first six innings Friday with just one hit through six innings, the Manteca bats woke up with a vengeance in the seventh inning with eight runs behind a three-run homer and a pair of two-RBI doubles to stun host East Union 8-5 in the Valley Oak League baseball finale at Maurice Agostini Field.
“Going into the seventh, we wanted to mix up the flow a little bit and get a couple of guys like Carson (Sablan) and Devon (Richardson) an at-bat,” coach Mark Ruiz said. “They came up huge, obviously. Devon came up in that big situation looking fastball and he crushed it. That got our rally going.
“It’s always good to beat the crosstown rivals, and I know these guys were excited looking forward to this game. We struggled a little bit in the first half or so of the game when we weren’t really executing and getting those big hits, and then the floodgates opened and we kept going.”
Trailing 5-0 entering the last inning, the Buffaloes (12-6, 20-7) drew a pair of walks to start the frame, bringing Richardson to the plate. He wasted little time, launching the first pitch he saw to the opposite field, soaring over the right-field fence and firing the first shot in the Manteca rally.
“I just wanted to do the most I could,” Richardson said. “They called time, and coach told me that they had just walked two guys, so look first-pitch fastball and try and get ahead. That’s exactly what it was, and I did the best I could with it, and that helped us to a comeback victory.
“Off the bat it felt good, but it was a little high in the air, and I thought maybe it was a popup, but it kept flying.”
Sablan, who drew one of those two initial walks, singled later in the inning to plate Preston Smith (2 for 3, two RBI, double, two runs) for the game’s last run.
“It felt great,” Sablan said. “We had a long game and came back from adversity.
“We were down 5-0, and our rally started with Richardson’s home run, and then we just kept roping it.”
Smith and Cam Jimenez both had two-RBI doubles in the seventh inning. Also in the seventh, Nate Slikker singled and scored, while Chris Chavez walked and scored.
Lancers pitcher Joe Alvarez owned the Buffaloes through six innings, limiting to Manteca to just one hit and five base runners with three strikeouts with a trio of 1-2-3 innings.
The fifth was the big inning for East Union (8-10, 14-14) with four runs behind a two-RBI double from Alvarez an and RBI single from Blake Mount. Ryan Allen doubled and scored in the fifth and Kirk Simoni singled in Peyton Heath in the fourth for the game’s first run.
Jimmy Burns towed the rubber for the Buffaloes in the seventh inning and set the Lancers down in order for the win.
“We just didn’t finish,” East Union coach Dan Bauer said. “We just have to be better and play a complete seven innings.
“They took advantage of the opportunities we gave them.”
Both teams await their placement for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, which begin on May 5. Brackets will be released Saturday, May 5. Manteca advances with an automatic berth for finishing third in the VOL. East Union is projected to advance with an at-large bid.
