Baseball: Cal Falls After Late Amador Rally

Amador Valley 8, California 7

Records: Amador Valley 16-3, 7-2; California 10-8-1, 6-3.

The Star: Amador's Tommy Pluschkell was 2 for 3 with a run and a pair of RBI's.

The Turning Point: Amador's six-run sixth erased a 6-2 Cal lead and propelled the Dons to an important EBAL win.

The Quote: "They believe they can play a full game," Amador coach Lou Cesario said. "It's not a roller coaster, it's a seven-inning game."

Who's Next? Amador plays San Ramon Valley Saturday at  the Oakland Coliseum and  Cal hosts Foothill on Friday at 4 p.m.

The Bottom Line: Amador and Cal came into the game tied for the lead in the EBAL standings (along with Foothill). The win gives Amador some momentum into Saturday's game against San Ramon Valley at the Oakland Coliseum. Cal will send Evan Brisentine to the mound to face first-place Foothill on Friday.

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After taking a 6-2 lead into the sixth inning only to lose 8-7 to Amador Valley on Wednesday, there's little doubt it's a game the California baseball team would like to have back.

The game couldn't have started much better for the Grizzlies, who came into the game tied with Amador and Foothill for first place in the East Bay Athletic League standings.

After taking a 3-0 lead in the first, Rudy Leon's solo homer in the second gave starting pitcher Chris Wingard a four-run cushion. The senior lefty cruised through the first three innings without allowing a run before the Dons were able to push one across in the fourth.

Wingard got a fly out to start the fifth before things started to go south for Cal. An error allowed Brian Hamm to reach first and Wingard walked the next two hitters before Cal coach Dan Ward called on Cory Elliott to replace Wingard.

"(Wingard's) been able to move the ball around and have success early," Ward said. "He just fell behind in counts later in the game and ran out of gas."

Tommy Pluschkell hit an RBI single to score Hamm and made the score 4-2 before David Johnson grounded out to end the inning.

Chris Hayden's two-run double in the fifth doubled Cal's lead, but the sixth inning was a nightmare.

Amador's Aaron Hafford started the inning with a single and after Tony Olguin struck out, the next five Amador hitters reached base — highlighted by an RBI double from Michael Lam. Chris Keck walked with the bases loaded and Pluschkell followed with a sacrifice-fly to tie the game at 6-6.

David Johnson, the inning's ninth batter, and Hafford came up with RBI singles to give the Dons a two-run lead.

 "We never give up, our bats can strike at any time," Pluschkell said. "We're a dangerous team in the lineup. I really feel confident no matter what the score is."

Amador had five players with at least two hits, including two in the bottom half of the order (Olguin and Lam) and one who came off the bench (Hafford).

After giving up the lead, Cal made it interesting.

Amador pitcher Mike Mallory walked Ryan Kochan and Adam Coll to start the bottom half of the sixth, but Mallory quickly settled down. Michael Smith bunted Kochan and Coll over and Rudy Leon followed with a sac-fly to score Kochan. Mallory came back to strike out John Sarmenta and didn't allow a hit in the seventh to preserve the win.

"They got some clutch hits and made the plays in the field," Cal coach Dan Ward said. "That was pretty much it.

Cal hadn't lost to Amador since a 1-0 defeat on May 2, 2006.

The Grizzlies have a chance to get right back into the race with a home game against Foothill on Friday. The Falcons remain tied with Amador in first place after beating Monte Vista 5-3 on Wednesday.

"There are no easy games in this league," Ward said. "You have to play your best game ever time out and we didn't do that today."

The game will feature two of the best starting pitchers in the area in Cal junior lefty Evan Brisentine and Foothill ace Will Anderson. 

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Amador Valley (16-3, 7-2) 000 116 0— 8 13 0
California (10-8-1, 6-3) 310 021 0— 7 4 2

Amador (ab-r-h)— Hamm 5-2-2, Moroney 3-1-0, Keck 2-1-0, Pluschkell 3-1-2, Johnson 4-0-1, Finn 2-0-1, Hafford 2-1-2, Olguin 4-0-2, Petros 4-1-2, Lam 3-1-1.
Cal (ab-r-h)— Leon 3-2-2, Sarmenta 2-2-0, Moen 3-2-1, Peter 4-0-0, Hayden 2-0-1, Truex 4-0-0, Kochan 1-1-0, Elliott 2-0-0, Coll 0-0-0, Smith 2-0-0.

Pitching 
Amador — Piscotty 4.1 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 H, 5 K, 5 BB; Gibbons 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB;  Mallory 2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 3 BB.
Cal — Wingard 4.1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K; Elliott 1 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 K, 0 BB; King 0.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K; Thronson 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K.

Batting 
2B — Hamm (AV), Finn (AV), Lam (A V), Leon (C), Hayden (C); HR — Leon (C). 

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