Live Oak fell down early and its attempt at a rally came up
short Thursday in an 8-6 loss to host Pioneer.
Live Oak fell down early and its attempt at a rally came up short Thursday in an 8-6 loss to host Pioneer.
“We were down early but we continued to battle throughout the game and came up a little short,” Live Oak coach Mark Cummins said. “There is no give up on this team so I know we will finish the season strong.”
The Acorns fall to 14-7 overall and 11-5 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division.
Live Oak got the lead with a run in the first inning. Cameron Willis singled and stole second base and scored on an Eddie Gomez’s single.
The Mustangs answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to two hits and two walks off starting pitcher Blaine Sutton (4-3).
Live Oak chipped away with a run in the second inning. Tony Austin reached first base on the shortstop’s error and advanced to second base when Alika Bantilan was hit by a pitch. With one out, Austin scored on a single by Tim O’Rourke.
The Mustangs extended their lead to 6-2 in the second inning by scoring three more runs.
The Acorns battled back with three runs in the fourth inning to close the gap to 6-5. Austin led the inning off with a single. With one out, Stephen Smith doubled to right center field to put runners on second and third. Austin scored when a ground ball by O’Rourke was misplayed by the third baseman and Smith and O’Rourke later scored on wild pitches to cut the deficit.
Pioneer added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings off relief pitcher Matthew Cummins to increase its lead to 8-5.
The Acorns got a run back in the sixth inning. O’Rourke singled, followed by a Mike Sorci infield single. With two outs, Cummins singled to left field to score O’Rourke.
The Acorns had nine hits on the day, led by O’Rourke and Gomez with two each.
