Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

PHS Boys Lose Last Regular Season Baseball Game

Prescott's problems on the baseball field continue, but the Wolves remain alive in the district tournament.

Prescott dropped the final game of the season 10-0 to Fouke in a game called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.

However, the Panthers are the defending class AAA state champs and are ranked 8th in the state.

Jake Casteel took the win. He went the distance facing 25 batters, giving up one hit, six walks and striking 11 out.

Josh Bullock was the losing pitcher. He was on the hill 4 1/3 innings, tangled with 23 batters, gave up eight runs on five hits and two walks while striking three out.

Decolen Prater came in to relieve Bullock. In his 1 1/3 inning he faced 12, gave up two runs on two hits, walked three and fanned one.

With one down in the top of the second the Panthers struck for three runs. The big blast was a homer with two on.

In the third, Fouke made it 5-0 with two singles and a sacrifice fly scoring the first run. The second came on a fielder's choice.

Fouke made it 8-0 in the fifth as a lead-off error and walk, combined with two singles allowed three to score.

The killing blow came in the sixth when, with one down, a walk and single put runners on first and second.

With two down, the first baseman dropped an infield pop fly which allowed two to score.

"I'm disappointed in the way we played after beating Fordyce," Coach Steve Crow said. "We played a lot like we did against De Queen  only one hit, no runs and four errors."

Crow said the errors really hurt the team, especially the easy out in the sixth.

However, he credited the Panthers saying few teams have managed to go a full seven innings with them this season.

Fouke, he said, returned six starters from last year's squad, including all of their pitching.

Then came the first game of the district tourney at Nashville, with Fordyce pounding Prescott 13-2 to get even for a recent loss.

This game was called after 4 = innings because of the 10-run rule.

Bullock took the loss, but Prater and Ryan Burdue also saw time on the hill.

Fleming was the winning pitcher for the Redbugs.

The Bugs scored three in the bottom of the first. A one-out walk and two singles with two down, along with a double and single put Fordyce up 3-0.

Prescott cut the score to 3-2 in the second.

Matt Yates and Andrew Fellows reached on errors and both scored on a pair of wile pitches.

In the bottom of the frame, however, the Bugs struck back hard for nine runs.

Two singles and a triple scored two runs. A walk and single brought another home, before the bases were cleared with a three-run shot.

The carnage didn't end there. Two walks and a single loaded the bases, with another single bringing two in. One more single finished the scoring.

Crow said nine Bugs batted before Prescott was able to get the first out.

A home run in the bottom of the third finished the Wolves off.

"Fordyce didn't look like the same team we beat 2-1 last week," Crow said. "I kept telling everyone how good they were, or they wouldn't have been the 3 seed in the tournament."

The seeding, he said, makes it more appreciable on how well Burdue and Prater pitched against them last week, as the Bugs only scored one run.

"They really hit the ball today," he said, as Fordyce had 12 hits, including two homers, two doubles and a triple.

Friday, April 21, down to their last gasp, the Wolves edged Mena 7-5 in an eight inning affair.

Burdue, Yates and Prater combined for the win, with Prater finishing the contest.

Burdue, who started, went three innings, faced 14 batters, gave up two runs on four hits, walked two and fanned one.

Yates, coming in to relieve Burdue, was on the hill 3 1/3 innings. He tangled with 16 batters, allowed three runs on four hits, walked one and fanned three.

Prater closed the last 1 2/3 innings. He pitched to eight Bearcats, gave up two hits, walked one and struck one out.

Neither team could get its offense going in the first two innings. The Cats scored two in the bottom of the third to go up 2-0.

With one down Burdue was tagged for three straight singles, with two runners scoring.

Prescott took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth.

Gabe Morman led off with a single, and Yates was hit by a pitch with one out. Fellows walked to load the bases.

A grounder by Chris Glass was mishandled allowing Morman and Yates to score. Mark Jones sacrifice fly brought Fellows in.

The Cats tied the game in the bottom of the frame. A lead triple scored on a one-out grounder to second.

Mena took the lead in the fifth at 4-3.

The run came from a lead walk and two-out double.

Prescott's offense was revived as the Wolves scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead.

Prater reached on an error and Bullock was hit by a pitch with one down. Prater scored on a wild pitch with Morman getting an RBI on a ground out.

But the Cats weren't finished yet and tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the inning.

With one down an error, single and sacrifice tied the game, sending it to an extra inning.

The Wolves made short work of the extended game by scoring twice in the top of the eighth.

With one down Fellows singled. Bullock, with two outs, singled Fellows in and went to second on the throw home. The throw to second wound up in centerfield, while Bullock completed his jaunt at home plate.

"This was one of the wildest games I've ever seen," Crow said. "Four lead changes and two ties as both teams seemed to refuse to lose."

The win, he added, avenges an 8-2 loss earlier in the season to Mena.

The three sophomore pitchers, he said, stepped up their game, though the team didn't hit the ball well.

"We did a heck of a job getting timely hits," Crow said, "and taking advantage of every scoring opportunity we got.

"We showed a lot of character coming back to take the lead in our last at-bat in the top of the seventh, then retaking it in the top of the eighth when Mena tied the game.

"Toby Bullock," he said, "came through with the big hit. It was a total team win."