Moments before first pitch, Coach Jim Burleigh was summoned by the opposing dugout to put a stop to some extracurricular activities in the visitors’ stands. Double checking that there was a stout tall chain link fence between him and the offending fans, he then strode over with the swagger of Dirty Harry to the squabble, ready to eject a couple of San Leandro fans about to bring the sweet science to the stands. With a firm voice and pacifying manner that would have impressed the best of United Nations diplomats, crisis was averted and it was time to play ball. Gold Gloves, not Golden Gloves.
Which meant that Austin McManamon toed the rubber and picked up right where he left off on Tuesday, when he threw a scoreless 7th inning at James Logan. The righthander gave up but one hit, stuck out six, and walked none and his defense played well behind him for five innings of shutout ball. The Dons needed his mastery on the mound because they could muster only one run themselves in the first four innings, an RBI groundout by Tyler Winkles with the bases loaded in the second. Facing a Pirates lefty starter with a late-breaking curveball was one difficulty, but the Dons also erased themselves on the basepaths twice in the first three innings.
They didn’t have any bad calls to use as an excuse, as Coach Dan Meade stepped in as a substitute for a couple of absentee umpires. It was quite a shock to imagine that both men came down with the sniffles and needed to rest on their couches on the first day of the NCAA tournament. Calling the game from behind the mound, the ol’ lefty had the fairest zone seen at an Acalanes game since…probably the last time he had to step in and call a game.
As calming as Coach Burleigh was before the game, he lit some sort of fire under his troops as they came to bat in the bottom of the fifth, clinging to a 1-0 lead, knowing that the horse they had ridden that far was tired. A.J. Hastings led off the half inning with a walk but was erased on a fielder’s choice. A single on a 3-2 count by Cody Michlitsch, followed by Jimmy Cusumano turning the other cheek to an inside pitch left the bases loaded. A well-placed single to right field by first baseman Jasper Stewart scored Winkles to let the Dons’ fans breathe a little easier. A passed ball led to another run, and left fielder Tommy Terhar hit one on the screws back up through the box that forced Umpire Meade to dance like Elvis to avoid getting a wooden leg or any eye patch. And like that, it was 5-0.
A.J. Hastings and Brendan Miles were asked to hold the lead, and they did, but Hastings initially looked a little more like a young Ebby Calvin LaLoosh than his usual self but flipped the switch and struck out the last two batters to escape a bases-loaded, no-one-out jam still up 5-1. What the Pirates could scratch out against Miles in the seventh wasn’t enough, and at the bell, it was the Dons’ hand being raised victorious, 5-3.
The Dons outhit the Pirates 8-3, with Winkles, Michlitsch, Cusumano, Stewart, Terhar, Zach Birrell and Kyle Woodson all tallying hits. Nico Roig handled the catching duties as Stewart switched gloves and slid over to first for the afternoon. The team is back at home this week against Berean Christian, before heading to Pinole Valley and Miramonte later this week.
Photo Credits: As (almost) always, Doug McManamon