Game called in bottom of second inning to be picked up at a
later date
Morgan Hill – Just as the Live Oak Acorns and the Sobrato Bulldogs’ game was getting underway Friday, the relentless rain returned to pound the baseball field at Live Oak. Despite the downpour the Acorns and Bulldogs tried to get the game in and made it through the top of the second inning before the umpires called it.
Live Oak abused Sobrato’s starter, Taylor O’Connell for 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning, as the rain steadily beat down.
The game will be continued at a later date. On Wednesday the Acorns travel to Sobrato to make-up an earlier game that was also rained out.
On Thursday Sobrato went into Hollister bidding for an upset of one of the Tri-County Athletic League’s leaders. And the Bulldogs pounced on the Haybalers for a run right off the bat, taking a 1-0 lead before San Benito had a chance to bat.
But once the ‘Balers (12-2, 8-1 TCAL) did get to the plate, they didn’t want to stop taking their hacks. Unable to stop the ‘Baler bombers, Sobrato left town reeling from a 19-1 blowout.
With their eyes on their first TCAL victory of the season, the Bulldogs (1-8, 0-5 TCAL) jumped on San Benito starter Doug Conte right at the start. Leadoff hitter Danny Nelson drew a walk and came around to score on Taylor O’Connell’s single. But that one-sacker was the only hit Sobrato could manage on the afternoon.
San Benito, meanwhile, had no such troubles. The ‘Balers scored seven runs in the second and pushed across another 10 in the fourth. Nelson prevented even more runs from crossing the plate with a highlight-reel catch in the second, securing the ball with a dive before colliding with the centerfield fence – the front end of an inning-ending double play.
The Bulldogs managed six walks and two hit batsmen off the ‘Balers’ pitching staff, but saw three runners gunned down on the base paths.
The Haybalers posted their season-high in runs scored and out-hit Sobrato 14-1.
Scott Campbell, sports editor of the Hollister Free Lance, contributed to this article.
