Madera Babe Ruth stays alive after opening loss

After suffering an 11-7 loss to Oahu, Hawaii in the first game of the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regionals in Taft, the Madera Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Star team stayed alive in the double elimination tournament with a pair of victories.

Madera defeated Guam, 14-0, on Tuesday and then edged Yuma, Arizona behind a 75-pitch gem from Murf Gray, 2-1, to remain in the tournament.

Madera played Thursday against Utah South (Piute), who lost to host Bakersfield, 5-2. With a win, Madera will then face a potential doubleheader on Friday for a chance to play in the championship on Saturday.

In the first game, Oahu jumped on Madera pitching for three runs in the first. However, Madera battled back with a run in the bottom of the inning when Gray scored on a David Ramirez single.

Madera took a 4-1 lead with runs from Evan Candelaria, Joshua Castro and Isaiah Monges in the bottom of the second.

However, Oahu sent 14 batters to the plate in the top of the third to score eight runs for an 11-4 lead.

Although Madera pitchers wouldn’t allow a run for the rest of the gam, the damage had been done.

Madera got a run in the sixth when Charlie Monterrosa scored on a Michael Monreal single. Brian Monges and Logan Wattenbarger each scored a run in the seventh for the 11-7 final.

Ramirez and Monterrosa each had two hits for Madera.

Madera banged out 13 hits in a 14-0, five-inning romp over Guam.

Madera pitches held Guam to just three hits in the victory.

Brian Monges scored a pair of runs with a hit. Wattenbarger scored two runs with two singles. Gray hit two singles and scored a pair of runs. Monterrosa was 1-for-2 with a run scored.

Evan Candelaria had a hit in two at-bats. Isaiah Monges was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Monreal scored a run and Josh Castro scored a run and hit a single. Ivin Ponce scored a run with a hit and Marcus DeFranco was

2-for-2 with two runs scored. David Zavala was 1-for-2 and Jojo Cosio had a pinch-hit single.

In Wednesday morning’s game, Gray was dominant on the mound. He allowed three hits, all sixth inning singles to score Yuma’s lone run, to secure a 2-1 victory.

Gray retired the side in order the other six innings while recording three strikeouts and finished the game with just 75 pitches.

Gray scored the game’s first run with a single, advanced to third on a Monterrosa single and scored on a wild pitch.

Madera was held scoreless until the sixth inning. Monreal led off with a walk. He went to second on another walk and scored on a Zavala single for a 2-0 lead.

Arizona added its lone run in the sixth, but Gray got a popout, strikeout and groundout to end the game with the victory.