BRENTWOOD, Calif. - A drizzly March day didn’t stop the Heritage Patriots, as balls flew across the yard all game long. Heritage’s five-run fourth inning made the previously one-run game out of reach for the Roseville Tigers, as the hosts pulled away for the 8-1 victory.
Keith Jones started the scoring barrage with a big two-run double to the right-field gap, his second RBI of the game after an RBI ground out in the first. Catcher Casey Turturici knocked in two more on a base hit, followed by a Chaz Myers two-run double, to extend the Patriot lead to six.
Roseville started strong in the top of the first, with a Braden Holcomb sacrifice fly to give the Tigers an early lead. Heritage starting pitcher Chase Goddard responded by allowing no runs and only two hits in the last four innings of his five-inning outing.
“I knew my team had my back and had a bunch of run support coming, so I just beared down and got my way through it,” Goddard said. “Once I got in a groove I was fine. The run support was very helpful. We have a good hitting team, and we did good today.”
The second inning rain delay looked to affect the Tigers more so than the Patriots, as they could not wake up the bats that the rain seemingly lulled to sleep.
“The rain did affect us. It’s never fun to play in the rain. But hey, they had the same situation so we can’t make that excuse,” explained Roseville manager Greg Zanolli. “I thought our starter, Cooper Thompson, did a real good job. He was doing real well until we made some mental mistakes that hurt him a bit. I thought we came out swinging the bats real good, and just made some mental mistakes later in the game that cost us.”
Heritage added one last run of insurance late in the fifth inning, on a Roseville error at first that Ryan Troye reached home on. Relievers Felix Dominguez and Ryan Jackson combined for a perfect sixth and seventh to secure the 8-1 win.
“Considering the weather, I thought everyone held up very well. It got a little slippery out there, and I’m glad that they didn’t start making excuses and just played through it,” said Heritage manager Kevin Brannan, after the Patriots third straight win to open the season. “So far this season we have had a lineup that can produce some runs. Sometimes when you have days like this with the weather, you never know what to expect. They kept their wits about them, put the ball in play, and drove in some runs.”
Heritage will try to extend its winning streak on Friday at perennial NorCal powerhouse Vacaville, while Roseville, 2-2, will try to bounce back on Thursday at Vista del Lago.
