Monache routs Union, sets up Porterville showdown

Monache baseball earned a small taste of payback by beating Tulare Union in convincing fashion, 9-2, Wednesday, to break a second-place tie in the East Yosemite League.

Now all they have to do is win out the remainder of the season to clinch second outright. Standing in the way, however, is Porterville, a rival looking for payback of its own after losing to Monache, 10-8, earlier this season.

“We want to get some momentum going into the playoffs,” Monache coach Anthony Gale said. “Porterville, in my opinion, is the best hitting team in the league. It’s going to be a tough game.”

Sophomore pitcher Martin Guzman will be slated to pitch against the Panthers on Friday and if he has a game similar to what Aaron Gray did to Union on Wednesday, the Marauders stand a decent chance.

In five innings, Gray fanned eight Redskins to continue his league-leading campaign for most strikeouts. The senior hurler also walked three and allowed just five hits off an aggressive Union squad.

“I think that was one of my better games,” said Gray, who is deciding between West Hills College, Bakersfield College and College of the Sequoias this fall. “Our team is definitely better than (the 7-4 EYL record) shows.”

Gray cited a pair of one-run losses but after giving up two doubles in the first inning for a 1-0 Redskins lead, Gray virtually shut them down the rest of the way, including two strikeouts against James Williams, the EYL’s top batter.

“Our pitching has been outstanding all year,” Gale said. “Last year, (Williams) hit a fast ball about nine miles away. Aaron beat him with fast ball situations and then we started looking off-speed. He kept us in the game.”

The Marauders’ bats, however, put them over the top as they racked up eight hits, mostly against Union’s towering southpaw, Russ Ortiz, who kept Monache to just one run in a 2-1 loss the last time they faced off.

Michael Halopoff hit a bloop single to lead off the bottom of the third. Nate Crocker then got on base by an error and Zack Aguilar followed with a well-placed bunt to load the bases.

“Zack put down a great bunt,” Gale said. “With his speed, he gets up the line and their third baseman had to make a decision. It’s a play that can be a weapon when you get a bunt like that and put others in those situations.”

Fortunately for Monache, Union’s third baseman, David Dodson, made the wrong decision.

Dodson’s throw to first flew high, giving Halopoff and Crocker a free pass home for a 2-1 lead.

At the top of the fourth, Union made its best bid for a rally when Gray hit KC McPhetridge to load the bases with two outs.

But Gray calmly struck out Vicente Rivera to end the inning.

“That was big,” Gray said. “I just wanted to get an out there. My arm started getting tired.”

In the next frame, Granite Hills transfer Andrew Priego doubled down the left baseline and Derek Pharis’ single drove in Dustin Land, whose head-first slide into home plate just beat the tag.

On the next at-bat, Halopoff fouled off three pitches before finally connecting on a critical single down the right baseline to score Priego for a 4-1 lead.

Halopoff hit 2-for-2 with two runs.

“(Halopoff) had a great game,” Gale said. “He’s been working (on hitting). He’s such an aggressive kid — he’s a football player that wants to hit that ball, so we’re getting him to be patient. But with him (batting ninth), we get a chance to put some runs up (before the top of the lineup).”

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Gray and Doyel each got strong leads off the base to score off a single and a wild pass to third, respectively.

Later, with Pharis and Halopoff on first and second, Crocker faked a bunt and pulled back for a left baseline double for two RBI. Crocker then scored off another wild throw to third to go ahead, 9-2, and squash any chance for a Redskins comeback.

“They made some throwing errors and had to rush,” Gale said of the Union infielders. “If you hit a ball hard, that’s all you can control. It makes infielders take different angles and you make them play faster than they want to.”

Monache, on the other hand, played relatively flawless defense, twice throwing out runners on base for leading off too far.

“We played clean defensively and executed on offense,” Gale said. “We had a couple games we felt like we gave away. This time, we took the opportunities that were given to us.”