Baseball: Amador Valley takes rivalry game vs Foothill

Amador Valley 5, Foothill 3

Records: Amador Valley 14-3, 5-2 EBAL, Foothill 12-5, 5-2

The Star: Battling the stomach flu, Amador's Chris Keck was 3 for 4 with an RBI double in the fifth. 

The Turning Point: After Foothill third baseman Jake Jefferies tagged Keck going from second to third to end the fifth, it appeared the game was tied 2-2. However, Amador coach Lou Cesario argued Joe Moroney had touched the plate before the out occurred. The umpires conferred and the run was awarded to the Dons. They held the lead for good.

The Quote: "I was throwing up all night," Keck said. "I had to man up and go to school. This was a rivalry game for first place."

Who's Next? Amador @ Granada, Friday, 4 p.m.; Foothill @ Livermore, Friday, 4 p.m..

The Bottom Line: The win creates at three-way tie between Amador, Foothill and Cal atop the EBAL standings at the halfway point of the league season. 

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If the Amador Valley High baseball team wasn't set to play rival Foothill on Thursday, Chris Keck probably would have stayed home sick from school.

The junior shortstop never considered it.

"I was throwing up all night," Keck said. "I had to man up and go to school. This was a rivalry game for first place."

Though he said he felt weaker than usual, it didn't show.

Behind Keck's hot bat and a solid performance from starting pitcher Nick Piscotty, the Dons moved into a three-way tie for first place in the East Bay Athletic League standings with a 5-3 win at Foothill.

"I've been pumped up for this game," Keck said. "We all know each other from when we were little … they are a good team."

After reaching base on an error in his first at-bat, Keck finished with hits in his final three plate appearances. His two-out double in the fifth brought in Brian Hamm to make the score 2-2 and his seventh-inning, two-out single led to a two-run single by Tommy Pluschkell. 

Down 5-2 going into the seventh, Foothill finally got something going.

Matt Owen doubled to lead off the inning and David Camarena followed with a single. Garrett Moore's sacrifice fly scored Owen and pinch-hitter Reece Yamada singled to bring up Oregon State-bound Brandon Defazio, who represented the tying run.

Amador pitcher Mike Mallory, who entered the game in the sixth, got Defazio to fly out before Michael Theofanopolous lined out to end the game.

"For some reason we were a little flat today," Foothill coach Angelo Scavone said. "Will (Anderson) pitched his can off, but our defense didn't make the plays behind him."

Anderson allowed six hits and struck out eight in a complete-game effort for the Falcons, but four Foothill errors led to a pair of unearned Amador runs.

One of those runs came with a little bit of controversy.

WIth runners at second and third and two outs in the fifth, Pluschkell hit a ground ball to third baseman Jake Jefferies, who — after struggling to field the ball cleanly — tagged Keck on his way from second to third. 

Joe Moroney came home from third on the play, but was not initially credited with a run. This prompted Amador coach Lou Cesario to question the ruling with the home-plate umpire.

Several minutes after the play transpired, the umpires agreed Moroney scored before Keck was tagged and awarded the run to the Dons.

Scavone immediately filed a protest.

"They got it right," Cesario said. "(Moroney) scored before he tagged (Keck) at third."

Both Pleasanton schools sit tied with California at 5-2 atop the EBAL standings at the halfway point on the league schedule.

"Every game is big from here on out," Cesario said. "The EBAL is the best league around and there aren't going to be any easy games."

Piscotty allowed five hits and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win.

Owen was 2 for 2 for Foothill with a run. 

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Amador Valley 5, Foothill 3

Amador Valley (14-3, 5-2) 100 020 2— 6 8 2
Foothill (12-5, 5-2) 200 000 1— 3 7 4

Amador (ab-r-h)— Hamm 4-1-1, Moroney 2-3-1, Keck 4-1-3, Pluskell 4-0-1, Johnson 4-0-0, Barstow 3-0-0, Olguin 2-0-0, Petros 3-0-0, Finn 3-0-0. 
Foothill (ab-r-h)— Moore 2-1-0, Jefferies 3-0-0, Yamada 1-0-1, Defazio 4-1-1, Theofanopolous 4-0-1, Viceral 3-0-1, Rowland 2-0-0, Anderson 3-0-1, Owen 2-1-2, Camarena 2-0-0. 

Pitching 

Amador — Piscotty 5.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 3 BB; Mallory 1.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K.  

Foothill — Anderson CG, 5 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 8 K, 1 BB.

Batting 
2B — Moroney, Keck; Defazio.  RBI — Pluschkell 2, Keck; Defazio, Viceral, Moore.

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EBAL baseball standings

Amador Valley 5-2

California 5-2

Foothill 5-2

San Ramon Valley 4-3

Granada 3-4

Livermore 3-4

De La Salle 2-5

Monte Vista 2-5

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