Big inning clinches Casa Grande win over Redwood

The Casa Grande baseball team rallied for five runs in the sixth inning and held on for a 6-4 win over Redwood Saturday, recording its third straight victory to open the season. The loss was the first for Redwood after four wins.

Starting Gaucho pitcher Austin Steeves allowed only one earned run while scattering 4 hits over 4 innings.. Wyatt Abramson pitched effectively over the final three innings, scattering four hits while yielding two earned runs and striking out four to earn the win. Steeves also reached base in all five of his trips to the plate, walking four times.

Casa scored in the first inning on Zach Baird’s two-out RBI single, but Redwood rallied for an unearned run in the third to tie the game and took the lead in the bottom of the first as a run scored when the Gauchos narrowly missed what might have been an inning-ending double play.

The Gauchos decided the game in the top of the sixth inning. Jeffrey Rice started things when he was hit by a pitch. Jordan Giacomini put down a sacrifice bunt. Walks to Jack Lundberg and Steeves loaded the bases. JT Summers’ sacrifice fly tied the game at 2-2 before Alex Cruz’s hard liner to right field was misplayed by the Redwood outfielder, allowing both Lundberg and Steeves to score. Two-out hits by Abramson and Kalen Clemmens gave the Gauchos a 6-2 lead.

Redwood made noise in the final two innings, scoring a run in both the sixth and seventh frames, before Abramson struck out the final batter for the Gaucho win. “It was a good win for the Gauchos,” said Casa coach Pete Sikora. “Redwood is well coached and a perennial NCS contender, so any win against that program is always impressive.

“Our offense did a good job putting together quality at bats and the players learned they can rally back late in the game. We have some things to clean up defensively, but it was a good win.”

MUSTANGS WIN

St. Vincent also won on Saturday, capping off a 12-6 win at St. Helena with a 6-run seventh inning rally.

St. Vincent built a 6-0 lead through 4 innings, before St. Helena rallied to make things close prior to the Mustangs’ final inning run explosion.

BUSY TROJANS

Petaluma’s Trojans have been able to dodge the rain enough to get in five games through last week.

Beset with early-season injuries to key players, the defending Vine Valley Athletic League Trojans were 2-3 starting this week.

Petaluma opened with a 4-1 loss to Marin Catholic and then rattled off two wins, beating Santa Rosa 7-5 and Tamalpais 5-1, before losing to San Marin 8-0 and Redwood 6-0.

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