On a blistering day at Eddie Chapa
Field,waterwas a precious commodity
as players and fans tried to
stave off the 102 degree heat.
But it was Madera manager
Andy Gutierrez who found himself
most refreshed as he was the
lucky recipient of a Gatorade
shower from his players Saturday
following his team defeating Clovis
5-1 to clinch the District II
championship.
“On a day like this, it’s not a bad
thing to get drenched with cold
water,” Gutierrez said. “But really,
we have a great group of kids
who are talented and love playing
the game and a championship is
the result.”
Madera went 4-0 during the
tournament outscoring its opponents
by a combined 40 to 10.
They banged out 32 hits while limiting
their opponents to just 13 and
were successful of 25-of-26 stole
base attempts.
As he did in the first game of the
tournament against Bullard, Scott
Roberts took the hill for Madera
and had another tremendous outing
tossing a complete-game one-hitter
with five strikeouts and one walk.
For the tournament Roberts was
2-0 with ten innings pitched while
allowing just two hits and three
walks to go alongwith 12 strikeouts
and his season record is now 13-0.
“Scotty with lights out again,”
Gutierrez said. “Sometimes it
seems almost unfair for the other
team but I’m going to keep giving
him the ball.”
In the championship game,
Madera was led in hitting by
Donovan Bertoncini and Isaac
Garcia who each were 2-for-3 with
a double.
After Roberts put Clovis down
in order with a pair of strikeouts in
the top of the first,Madera leadoff
hitter Isaac Garcia, who was 6-for-
8 in the tournament, doubled to the
wall in left and scored on an RBI
single by Roberts. Bertoncini then
singled and scored on a run-scoring
single byAdriano Coronado to
stake Madera to a 2-0 lead.
This two-run cushion was more
that Roberts needed as his 80 mph
fastball and dizzying array of offspeed
pitches left the only consolation
for the Clovis batters being the
breeze as the pitches cross the plate.
While Madera was held to its
lowest hit output in the tournament,
it can be attributed to Clovis
running out a series of pitchers
who were simply lobbing the ball
in with very little velocity which
Madera had trouble adjusting to.
“We are a very good hitting team
and are at our best against harder
throwing pitchers,” Gutierrez said.
“And I think Clovis saw that in our
last game and did what they could
to throw us off balance.”
Madera added its final three runs
in the bottom of the fourth as Isaac
Granado led off with a walk and
promptly stole second.A Clovis er-
ror put runners on the corners
before a fielder’s choice
on a grounder by Anthony
Martinez plated a run. Martinez
would then score on a
wild pitch to extend the lead
to 5-0.
Clovis then scored their
first run in 12 innings against
Madera in the top of the sixth
without recording a hit.
With a runner aboard in
the top of the seventh,
Roberts then closed down
the game by tossing a strikeout
for the second out while
Madera catcher Bertoncini
caught the Clovis runner
stranding off first and threw
behind him causing a rundown
where Bertoncini himself
tagged out the runners to
end the game.
Madera now advances to
the eight-team Babe Ruth
State Tournament at Fowler
next Friday.
