Remaining on top of the Tri-County Athletic League standings
heading into the final five games of the regular season after a
home-and-home split against a contending rival is usually cause for
celebration. But Live Oak High baseball coach Mark Cummins was
anything but pleased after a lackluster effort from his team in a
6-2 loss to visiting Hollister-San Benito on Friday.
“(The Haybalers) just seemed to have a little more hop in their
step today and we didn’t, and we can’t let that happen again,
ever,” Cummins said. “We had a great comeback on Tuesday but today
we came out a little flat. They jumped on us early and we couldn’t
recover.”
Remaining on top of the Tri-County Athletic League standings heading into the final five games of the regular season after a home-and-home split against a contending rival is usually cause for celebration.
But Live Oak High baseball coach Mark Cummins was anything but pleased after a lackluster effort from his team in a 6-2 loss to visiting Hollister-San Benito on Friday.
“(The Haybalers) just seemed to have a little more hop in their step today and we didn’t, and we can’t let that happen again, ever,” Cummins said. “We had a great comeback on Tuesday but today we came out a little flat. They jumped on us early and we couldn’t recover.”
After LO rallied from a 5-1 deficit to claim a crucial 6-5 victory in extra innings at Hollister-SB on Tuesday, it was the ‘Balers who came out fired-up on the Acorns’ home field on Friday.
The ‘Balers wasted little time jumping on LO starter Kyle Ferguson, scoring three runs in the first after two outs on a two-run double by Jason Sims and an RBI single by Anthony Vasquez.
Hollister-SB made it 4-0 in the second on Karson Klauer’s sacrifice fly, scoring Breyon Canez, and added single runs in the third and seventh by capitalizing on an error-prone Acorn defense.
Meanwhile, Canez was befuddling the LO offense, twirling a four-hitter for the victory.
The Acorns’ only runs came in the second inning when they strung together two singles and a walk with an error.
“This was extremely big, especially after the disappointing loss on Tuesday,” ‘Baler coach Mike Luna said. “I told the team this game is going to show the character of the team. I’m really proud of the way the guys battled.”
LO (13-7 overall) fell to 8-2 in TCAL, while Hollister-San Benito(17-7) improved to 6-4 in league.
Meanwhile, the LO softball team solidified its hold on second place in the TCAL with a thrilling 1-0 victory in eight (one extra) innings over the Lady ‘Balers on Wednesday at Community Park.
In the bottom of the eighth, catcher April Herrera came through with a single to center to score pitcher Juliette Bowers with the winning run.
LO (16-5 overall) improved to 4-1 in TCAL with the victory, while the ‘Balers fell to 2-2 in league.
