Wildcats snuff Grizzlies out of 1st round

Granite Hills got what they wanted — a shot at the playoffs after baseball coach David Camargo pleaded his squad’s case.

They just couldn’t pull it off in a 4-2 loss to No. 6 Taft, Wednesday.

Granite had finished the season with a sub-.500, 11-13 record but the powers that be granted them a chance against the ranks of Div. IV after testing their mettle against Div. II and Div. III teams all year.

Easy matchup, right?

Not exactly.

“I thought this was the worst matchup we could’ve gotten in the first round,” said Camargo, whose squad went up against an under-seeded 18-9 Wildcats team. “There were four teams with worse records than we had, but they were given higher seeds. And Taft is a solid team that should’ve been higher than six.”

The No. 11 Grizzlies actually took the lead in the third inning after right fielder Andrew Priego’s double paid off when Matt Camargo drove him home with an RBI single.

Playing without starting catcher Tyler McFadden, who broke his hand in a game against Porterville on April 16, the Grizzlies had to make do with Alex Lamb, who hadn’t played the position since the little leagues.

The rustiness showed after Taft’s leadoff hitter worked his way to third base. In a base steal attempt by Taft from first to second, Lamb bluffed his throw to second and overthrew third, allowing one of Taft’s four unearned runs.

The Grizzlies were stung by five errors while the Wildcats slipped up twice.

Granite’s heat-throwing ace Jason Tredway struck out six and allowed four walks and two runs in six innings.

The senior also went 2-for-3 from the plate to notch half of the Grizzlies’ four hits.

Granite got its second run when Lamb got on base with an error and Tredway’s fielder’s choice groundout allowed Lamb to sneak home.

The Grizzlies had one more chance in the seventh when they loaded the bases, but Matt Camargo struck out to end the game.

“On paper it looked like we could’ve won the ball game,” Camargo said. “We’re really proud of them and we’re looking forward to next season. These guys worked real hard and I think a lot of people recognized that.”