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JV Baseball Cougars Top Modesto Christian
Teixeira pix
JV player Demetrius Teixeira fires in a pitch during a Wednesday afternoon home game against Modesto Christian on April 25. It was an 11-1 Cougar win. Marg Jackson/The Times

Three games were on the schedule for the JV baseball Cougars and they had a successful week, winning two out of the three.

Both wins came against Trans-Valley League foe Modesto Christian, with the JV Cougar boys getting a shutout win on the road to kick off the week on Tuesday, April 24.

“It was a 13-0 win, it was a complete and total team effort,” said head coach Ken Baptista. “We had nine guys with hits.”

The first three batters for Escalon scored in the top of the first, and they kept the offensive pressure up throughout the day.

Luke Anderson was the starting pitcher and got the complete game victory.

“Luke had 10 strikeouts and allowed no earned runs,” Baptista noted. “It was a good way to start the week.”

Wednesday, the JV squad hosted Modesto Christian and got another win, this time putting away the young Crusaders by an 11-1 final, winning in the fifth inning via the 10-run rule.

“It was a little harder than the day before but we got the win,” said Baptista.

Anderson went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in. The JV boys scored seven runs in the fifth inning to put the game away. Notching two hits apiece were Bryce McPherrin, Clay Evans and Roman Gonzalez.

“The winning pitcher was Demetrius Teixeira, he went five innings, allowed one hit and one run, he struck out three,” the coach said.

Thursday, playing their third game in as many days, the JV squad hosted Gregori in a make-up game from the earlier Oakdale Rotary Tournament. They took an 8-3 loss, falling behind early.

Ty Harris got his first start of the season in the game. He has come on many times in relief already, but this was his first time taking the ball to start the game.

“They got four runs in the first inning,” Baptista said of Gregori, noting that defensive miscues hurt the Escalon squad. After surrendering four runs in the first, Harris settled down and was strong from there on out, pitching a total of four innings. He had five strikeouts and allowed three hits.

Escalon battled back with single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings to get within striking distance, trailing 5-3. Gregori answered with some late runs to take the win. The JV boys used a couple of relief pitchers after Harris pitched his four innings.

Alex Guevara had a hit and drove in a pair of runs; Anderson was 2-for-2.

This week will see the boys taking on Hughson, hosting the Huskies on Wednesday, May 2 and traveling for their Friday game, May 4.

“Hughson will be a good test, they are 8-1, we are 8-0, it should be a couple of good games,” Baptista said of the top two teams meeting in league play.