Coyotes baseball unable to match Panthers’ firepower
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Brian Hefner scores a run during Friday’s 13-8 loss to San Joaquin Memorial in Mel Parker Field.
On a gusty day at Mel Parker Field, the San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno Panthers capitalized on 11 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to upend the Madera Coyotes 13-8 in a County/Metro Athletic Conference game.
Although the Coyotes were hot at the plate, collecting three doubles and scoring eight runs, the Panthers relied on a home run and timely hitting to race past Madera.
Kristian Gomez led the Coyotes with two hits, a run and three RBIs while Tony Noriega, Adam Medellin and Nick Martinez each chipped in with an RBI. Martinez only lasted three innings on the mound after allowing six hits and eight runs.
The game started off quickly for the Coyotes after Caleb Pursell led the bottom of the first with a walk, which was followed by a Christian Chavira double to left field.
The Coyotes scored two runs in the bottom of the first after Martinez and Medellin came through with run-scoring hits.
The action picked up in the top of the third after the Panthers scored on a base hit and an error on a bloop hit over in the infield. The game remained deadlocked at two until the top of the fourth inning.
The Panthers capitalized on shaky pitching to put six runs on the board. Behind an error and multiple base hits, the Panthers gained confidence with each at bat. After a pitching change, the Coyotes found themselves down 8-2.
The Coyotes responded with five runs of their own behind big hits from Noriega and Gomez. They collected back-to-back hits with runners on to bring the team back. The Coyotes headed to the top of the fifth inning trailing 8-7 after the team fought to answer back.
The game turned upside down in the top of the fifth inning after a deep two-run homer. The Panthers strung together hit after hit to effectively end the game in the fifth inning. The Panthers middle of the order was too much to handle for the Coyotes.
The Coyotes showed their resilience in the bottom of the fifth inning after they scored a run when Gomez’s second hit but that was all the home team could muster for the rest of the game.
