East Union needs late rally to edge winless Lodi in baseball

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 10, 2009 | by Dave Campbell

MANTECA -- Undefeated East Union High and winless Lodi squared off Tuesday in a nonleague baseball contest, and up until the bottom of the seventh it appeared that the visiting Flames would pick up their first win.

But a one-out double by Joe Modesto followed by Steven Weddington's walk left the bases loaded for the Lancers. Then with two outs, Wade Morton hit a shot down the third-base line, scoring John Ott and then a sliding Modesto to tie the game. Garrett Fisher followed with a single to deep short, scoring Weddington and giving East Union a 4-3 win at Agostini Field.

"They got a couple of clutch hits," Lodi coach Hobie Schultz said. "If we make the play at the plate right there, then that is the ballgame. It was a perfect throw from left field and we dropped the ball.

"That has been our problem all year -- we just can't play catch. That is why we are 0-6."

Modesto came in to pitch the final three innings, striking out three and allowing three hits, the last one a home run by Sean Snell.

Modesto's double in the seventh was his first at-bat.

"I just wanted to get a hit," Modesto said. "I saw that pitch real well and I just turned on it.

"I saw the catcher get ready and I got a little scared, but my knee hit his glove and the ball came out."

Fisher was hitless in his first three trips to the pate before his game-winning single.

"I knew he was going to come with a slow ball right there," Fisher said. "So I told myself I was going to get the hit and I got it.

"I knew right when I hit it that it was going to be a hard ball to get to, so I just sprinted as hard as I could and got the job done."

East Union coach Dan Triglia did not let his Lancers (5-0) take the Flames (0-6) lightly.

"Even though they have not won a game, they have played some quality teams," Triglia said. "I knew that they were going to be well coached and play hard. We really didn't consider the disparity of records because I knew they were going to battle.

"Their pitcher did a good job of keeping us off balance most of the game changing speeds. We really didn't make any adjustments until the end. That is something we need to work on."