Double plays the difference as Ross falls to Irish

FREMONT – When does three plus four plus six equal two?

When the Fremont Ross baseball team hits into inning-ending, momentum-sapping double plays. The Little Giants saw potential game-changing rallies cut short in back-to-back innings Friday as Ross dropped it Three Rivers Athletic Conference opener to Toledo Central Catholic 7-3.

"I can't really blame my kids, though," Ross coach Mark King said. "They put nice swings on them. We hit a shot to the gap but the kid made a nice play and then they were loaded with one out and hit a rocket right at the shortstop."

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Little Giants quickly loaded the bases with no outs. Ross, however, failed to capitalize, first flying out to left then hitting a tailor-made grounder to short for a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The following inning Ross again threatened to close the deficit. The Little Giants put runners on the corners with one out before another ground ball, this one to second base, started yet another doubleplay, a 4-6-3.

"Obviously the two double plays were game-changers," Central Catholic coach Jeff Mielcarek said.

The Irish then took the momentum created by its defense and carried it over to offense. Central Catholic first six hitters reached base and grew its lead to 7-3. Central Catholic's Colin Kaucher hit a two-run inside-the-park home run when his blast to right-center field eluded the outstretched glove of diving centerfielder Russ Yeast.

Ross got a run back in the bottom of the sixth but could not climb out of its hole.

The Little Giants fell behind 4-1 in the third inning when a combination of defenses miscues aided the Irish offense.

Left fielder Grant McConnell lost a fly ball in the afternoon sun as Cameron Best made his way to second. Then a pair of throwing errors to first base led to Best and Jayson Cleghorn scoring an increasing Central Catholic's lead to 4-1.

"I didn't think we played bad baseball game," King said. "I thought we battled. A break here or there, and we gave three of the first four runs away."

Jalen Slick, Nick Michael and Eliseo Contreras each had multiple hits for the Little Giants while Yeast, Contreras and Bryce Moreno each had an RBI.

The loss drops the Little Giants to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the TRAC.

Despite the loss, King liked how his team battled against its deficit and has seen his team improve from a slow start to the season.

"We had a rough start the first three or four games," King said. "I don't take this as playing at the same level we played the first four games. We're swinging the bats a lot better. The competitive spirit is coming out and the defense is coming up."