It was a study in contrast last week for the Pierce baseball team as they went on the road and upended Durham 3-1, before returning home on April 29 to drop a wild 17-13 game to the Trojans.
In Durham the Bears put a three spot on the board in the first inning and got a noteworthy effort from Ryan Travis on the mound in one of Pierce’s best performances of the season.
Travis tossed a complete game four-hitter and got solid defense behind him to limit Durham to just a single run.
At the plate, Bryce Murphy finished 2 for 3, Ky Wooldridge doubled, Travis chipped in with a hit and Kaden Davis drove in a pair of runs.
However, it was a much different story last Friday as despite out hitting the Trojans 18-6, the Bears struggled mightily in the field, yielding 14 unearned runs and falling short even though they rallied for 10 runs over the final three innings.
Travis again did his part going 4 for 5 with five RBI while Davis, Luke Myers and Roberto Ramirez each had a three-hit, two RBI day.
Brayden Hoebel, another Bear that garnered three hits, additionally threw well over three innings, striking out four and conceding just two earned runs, but was victimized by sloppy play in the field.
Sitting sixth in the Sacramento Valley League, Pierce (7-13, 5-7) hosted Willows on May 3 and heads north on Friday for the regular season finale against the Honkers.■
