Lakewood – Pirates aren’t known to share their fame and fortune, but Anthony Ray didn’t mind Friday after Alameda’s 7-6 victory over Rifle.
Ray was perfect at the plate with three doubles, two runs and an RBI, but it was starting pitcher Kyle Gibson who Ray called the game’s hero.
He might be right.
Gibson struck out 10 Bears and tossed a complete game. He also scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to highlight a 3-for-4 effort at the plate as the Pirates improved to 6-3 with the Class 4A nonleague win.
“It felt good to get that final run around and give me a little more cushion,” said Gibson, who allowed 11 hits and walked three to improve to 4-0.
“It feels real good to bounce back from a bad season and start up with a good season,” Ray said.
Rifle (1-4), which went 16-4 last season, rallied late but was undone by base running miscues and an error in the bottom of the sixth that allowed Gibson to score what proved to be the game-winning run.
Eli Snead went the distance for the Bears, allowing 11 hits, striking out five and walking two.
Snead scored two runs and was 2-for-2 at the plate but was also picked off trying to steal third in the top of the seventh with one out on a botched double steal with Bryce Enewold at first.
Enewold, who drove in three runs on three hits, cut the deficit to 7-6 when he knocked in Andrew Schmidt with a single to left field. Enewold took second while Snead got picked off and shortstop Uriel Quezada popped up to shallow center field to end the game.
“A lot of little mistakes cost us a lot of runs this game,” Bears coach Troy Phillips said. “We’re still making too many errors.”
Rifle went up 1-0, but the Pirates answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Gibson and center fielder Kevin Sanchez both singled before Ray and first baseman Jason Olin followed with run-scoring hits.
“They’ve been working on me all year to go opposite field and just sit back on the pitch and relax up there,” Ray said.
Rifle 100 004 1 – 6 11 1
Alameda 302 101 x – 7 11 2
Rifle – Schmidt cf 4-2-2-0, Fix ss-1b 3-1-1-1, Snead p 2-2-2-0, Enewold c 4-1-3-3, Quezada 1b-ss 4-0-0-0, Whitmore 2b 3-0-1-1, Anderson lf 3-0-0-0, Bond 3b 3-0-1-0, Gose rf 2-0-1-0, Petree 1b 1-0-0-0. Totals 29-6-11-5.
Alameda – Gibson p 4-3-3-0, Isaac ss 3-0-0-0, Sanchez cf 3-2-3-1, Otto c 4-0-0-1, Ray rf 3-2-3-1, Olin 1b 3-0-2-2, Thomas 2b 3-0-0-0, O’Brien 3b 3-0-0-0, Vollmuth lf 3-0-0-0, Van Dyke ph 1-0-0-0. Totals 30-7-11-5.
E – Whitmore; Thomas, O’Brien. LOB – Rifle 5, Alameda 4. SB – Snead 2; Sanchez. CS – Gose 2, Snead. 2B – Schmidt; Ray 3, Gibson.
Batteries – Snead and Enewold; Gibson and Otto. W – Gibson (4-0). L – Snead (0-2).
