Sports
Baseball: Logan Triumphs over Clayton Valley 4-2
The Colts take down the Eagles in the first round of the Crown Classic Tournament at Valley Christian High School in San Jose.
Logan 4, Clayton Valley 2
Records: Clayton Valley 12-2-2 (7-0 DVAL), Logan 14-2 (MVAL 6-1)
The Star: Brandon Yau pitched a complete game, scattering three hits and two runs over seven innings.
Find out what's happening in Union Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Turning Point: The Colts' three-run second was enough to make the difference, and it also chased Eagles’ starter Chaz Meadows from the game after just two innings.
The Quote: “It’s an easier feeling knowing you have a good pitcher on the mound and knowing he doesn’t give up a lot of runners. A two-run lead late in the game is good,” Logan coach John Goulding said.
Find out what's happening in Union Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Who's Next? The Colts play Valley Christian in the semifinals of the Crown Classic Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Bottom Line: Logan advances to play the host team thanks to Yau’s good outing.
baseball coach John Goulding admits Brandon Yau isn’t a complete ace on the mound.
“He has good, not great, stuff,” Goulding said. “He throws three pitches for strikes and in high school that’s very effective.”
The “good stuff” for Yau was more than effective Thursday, as he tossed a complete game and helped the Colts advance to the semifinals of the Crown Classic Tournament at Valley Christian High in San Jose with a 4-2 victory over Clayton Valley.
Logan snapped Eagles starting pitcher Chaz Meadows' 39-1/3 scoreless inning streak with a three-run second inning.
“We really talk about playing one pitch at a time, and he does it better than anybody,” Goulding said. “He doesn’t let anything bother him. He falls behind and he doesn’t let it affect him.”
Yau showed poise in the seventh, when, after getting the first two outs of the final frame rather easily, he gave up a full-count walk and hit a batter to put two runners with two outs.
Goulding had a short discussion with Yau at the mound and decided to leave him in the game. Yau didn’t disappoint, as he got Clayton’s Jeff Doran to hit a comebacker to him, which he tossed to first baseman Alex Martinez to end the game.
“He’s about a hitter away from coming out,” Goulding said. “But he made a good pitch there, and obviously got out of the inning."
Yau gave up just two runs on three hits over seven innings, and received run support early.
Down 1-0 in the second inning, Michael Johnson sacrificed Brandon Lamm to second base after Lamm walked to start the frame. After a Zach Vallejo lineout, Jason Puckett’s looping single to right field brought home Hamm to tie the game at 1-1.
Alex Abeyta would follow with a deep drive to right-center field, which drove in Puckett to give the Colts the lead. Abeyta would score on a Joe Armstrong infield single to make it a 3-1 game.
Armstrong smashed a deep drive to left-center field in the fifth inning that was a foot short of going over the fence for a home run and left him at third with a triple. He would score on a Pascual Flores single to make it 4-1.
The four runs gave Goulding the confidence that Yau ultimately wouldn’t need to be pulled.
“It’s an easier feeling knowing you have a good pitcher on the mound and knowing he doesn’t give up a lot of runners,” Goulding said. “A two-run lead late in the game is good.”
Logan 4, Clayton Valley 2
Clayton Valley 100 100 0 — 2 3 3
Logan 030 001 x — 4 7 2
CV (ab-r-h) — Meadows 0-0-0, Burger 1-1-0, Doran 4-0-0, Jacobson 2-0-0, Kroll 3-0-0, Matthews 3-1-0, Kaplan 3-0-1, Ballard 3-0-1, Medrano 2-0-1. Totals 21-2-3.
Logan — Puckett 4-1-2, Abeyta 3-1-1, Armstrong 2-1-2, Flores 2-0-1, Martinez 2-0-0, Nieves 3-0-0, Lamm 2-1-0, Johnson 2-0-0, Vallejo 3-0-1. Totals 33-4-7.
Pitching
CV — Meadows 2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 3 BB; Wisnell 3 IP, 1 R,
1 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 1 BB; Doran 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB.
Logan — Yau 7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 K, 2 BB.