Woodcreek pulls out 4-3 win to take series from Vista

A key Capital Valley Conference baseball series was held last week between Woodcreek and Vista del Lago. Woodcreek won the first game, 4-3, before Vista returned the favor and smacked the Timberwolves, 12-0 in game two to tie the series, setting up the series finale played Friday night at Folsom Lake College. In the end, Woodcreek pulled out a second 4-3 win, this one in 10 innings, to win the series two games to one. Woodcreek led Vista 4-0 after five innings in the first game, before the Eagles scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to narrow the gap, but that's all they could get, as Dylan Stevenson, in relief of Ayden Gomez, got the Timberwolves out of the inning with a one-run lead. In the second game, Vista starter Jack Ellis pitched a shutout and allowed only two hits in Vista's 12-0 win. Ha led the offense, as he had three hits and three RBIs, while Michael Nicosia had two hits and two runs batted in. "Vista's pitcher threw a gem," Conn said. "The kid was impressive. Vista responded exactly as they should and figuratively punched us in the mouth." In the third game, Vista took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Russell Snyder hit a sacrifice fly to score Nate Ha. Woodcreek tied the game in the top of the second inning when Blaze Flores tripled and then scored on a single by Cody Scott. The game remained tied until Woodcreek scored three runs in the top of the tenth inning. Cameron Clouse singled and moved to second on a groundout. After the second out, Ian Martinez drew a walk, before Pierson Lee singled to score Clouse and put Woodcreek in front 2-1. Stevenson then walked before Christian Rodriguez' two-run single gave Woodcreek a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the 10th, Vista scored two runs when Ethan Rhee singled in Snyder and courtesy runner Matt Pecha scored on a Woodcreek error to make it 4-3. Andres Valdez got the last out of the game to give Woodcreek the win. "It was a good series against a good team," Vista del Lago's Jim Bazor said. "It came down to a couple little plays in the games we lost. They got some walks and had their timely hits, while we were a hit or two away. I'm proud of the way the boys played." Woodcreek coach Lucas Conn agreed with Bazor in that it was a good series. "It was a great series; Vista is a classy, well-coached team and I've got to give them a ton of credit for making it such a great series," Conn said. In the first game, Conn gave credit to starting pitcher Gomez for a fine outing. "Our boys took care of business at the plate and the field and Ayden was dominant," Conn said. "Our defense was highlighted by a game-saving catch at shortstop by Esteban Rodriguez. "I'm very proud of our boys for bouncing back in the third game," Conn said. "This group truly plays for each other and doesn't quit. "Tyler Thompson was dominant, going eight innings and allowed one unearned run. We played great defense behind him from Trace Murchison and timely hitting from Cameron Clouse, Pierson Lee and Christian Rodriguez gave us the momentum to seal the win and the series. Andres Valdez closed it out for us. "This was one of those series with a lot of highs and lows, but I'm proud of our boys for weathering the storm, having faith and as mentioned earlier, playing for each other. I couldn't be more proud."