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Dickens Tournament Play Sees 2-1 Mark For JV Boys
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Going 2-1 in the Spring Break week Mark Dickens Tournament in Oakdale, the Escalon JV baseball boys got in some valuable work. They topped Buhach Colony and Merced while losing to Lincoln of Stockton.

The JV boys opened the tournament against Buhach Colony, winning by an 8-7 decision.

“We got five runs in the sixth to take the lead,” said head coach Ken Baptista. “Anthony LaRossa pitched well but didn’t figure in the decision; Zach Hearn got the win.”

LaRossa started and Hearn came in to pitch two innings, striking out two and being the beneficiary of the JV team’s five run outburst.

“Carson George pitched two-thirds of an inning and got the save,” Baptista added. “Noah Rast was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored; Roman Gonzales had a three-RBI double in the sixth inning.”

Then it was on to face Lincoln, with the two teams playing each other close for four innings. Escalon trailed just 1-0 until Lincoln broke the floodgates open in the fifth and continued the onslaught in the sixth, when they scored 10 runs. The final score was Lincoln 17, Escalon 0.

“Carson George threw well but took the loss, the third time through the line-up, they got to him,” Baptista explained. “After that, I threw some younger guys in there.”

That allowed everyone to get involved in the game. Hunter Van Boven had Escalon’s only hit of the day, going 1-for-3.

Wrapping up the tournament action on Friday, the JV boys nailed down a satisfying 11-1 win against Merced.

“We threw a no-hitter,” Baptista said, with the duo of Cole Gilbert and Roman Gonzales combining to keep Merced hitless on the day.

Gilbert went five innings and got the win, walking four, striking out eight and allowing one run. Gonzales went one inning and had a strikeout.

“It was kind of a good way to bounce back,” Baptista said of recovering from the lopsided loss to Lincoln. “Anthony LaRossa was our offensive leader, he was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.”

The JV boys do not have any Trans-Valley League games this week; their next action will be a Saturday, April 29 non-league game at East Union in Manteca.