Last Thursday, Gunderson came away with an 11-1 win over visiting Independence in a Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division baseball contest. With the win, the Grizzlies (10-4, 9-3 BVAL-WV) remain solidly in second place in the division, while Independence (8-8, 7-5) falls into a third-place tie.
“They played well at both ends - defense and offense," Gunderson assistant coach Derrel Andran said. "They were ready to play and gave 100 percent." This was evident as Gunderson rapped out 11 hits and committed just one error compared with three hits and five errors for the 76ers.
After the 76ers went down in the top of the first, thanks in part to a great throw by Gunderson catcher Tyler Higgins to nail Nikko Nerecina trying to steal third, the Grizzlies took advantage of some poor defense to take an early lead. Higgins (3-for-3, 2 runs scored, 4 RBIs) started the rally with a hit and then three Independence errors led to a 3-0 lead for Gunderson.
“The big thing was the errors at the beginning," Independence coach Bob Leadbetter said.
Gunderson added to the lead in the second inning on another RBI hit by Higgins to score Tony Eliason, who reached with a line drive single to left to make it 4-0.
Independence scored its only run in the sixth inning as Nerecina reached one again and came around to score to cut the Gunderson lead to 8-1. However, the Grizzlies extended the lead back to 11-1 on a two-run double by Higgins.
Jake Spencer, who finished with seven strikeouts, picked up the win for Gunderson. The freshman also hit a long double to the fence and scored a run.
