Warriors keep winning streak alive

The Warriors dealt the Giants their first lost of the Douglas County Amateur Baseball Assn. season, but it took them almost a month to do so.

When the DCABA 10-U American League match-up between the Warriors and Giants began, a sudden storm caused the game to be called in the middle of the action on May 5.

Warriors players said the weather on that night was really windy and that there was a lot of lightning before a strong storm came on suddenly.

“It was like someone pushed a button and the rain just poured,” Warriors player Cole Cummins said.

When the two teams reconvened June 7 at Youth Sports Inc., it was a perfect summer night.

The Warriors had the momentum and a 4-2 lead over the Giants when the game was called. Both teams had played a good portion of their season before making up the rest of the game. The Warriors, who are in the middle of the pack in the league, were on a two-game losing streak entering the resumed game against the Giants.

The Giants had not suffered a loss all season and led the league, which Cummins said was intimidating and made him nervous.

“They have one of the best pitchers in the league!” Cummins said.

Dane McCullough and Nick Hay pitched for the Giants in the rescheduled game

Despite the difference in the standings, the Warriors used their recent mid-season momentum to hold their two-run lead and turn it into a 6-4 win that put them on a four-game winning streak.

The delayed game gave the Giants an obstacle that was challenging for them to overcome.

The Warriors failed to score a run in their first at bat. Giants player Cale Bertran, who celebrated his 10th birthday the night of the game, threatened to tighten the score after getting on base with a walk and stealing second before the Warriors catcher caught him stealing at third to end the inning.

Montana Locke, who was up to bat to end the inning, had seized his opportunity to get on base when the Giants came up to bat again by reaching first with a walk. Although the Giants failed to score that inning, they manufactured runs in next inning, but not before the Warriors had added some insurance when Warrior Erik Mayo hit a double down the left field line, stole home and scored on a passed ball.

The Giants answered back after reaching base on two dropped fly balls. The Giants had Chase Langston on first base and McCullough on second, and a double steal put both runners in scoring position. McCullough scored on passed ball, and Langston followed suit on the next play by scoring on another passed ball. In the end, though, the Giants failed to score enough to push their team to a win.

“The worst part was starting two runs down,” Giants coach James Becker said.

Becker said starting a game that was already in progress didn’t help his team, which he said is often a slow starter.

“It’s hard to get back into it,” Becker said. “It took us two innings to show up. We came up too little to late.”

Even though the Giants suffered the loss, Becker said he is impressed in the progress he has seen his team make throughout the course of the season because some of the players on the team did not play DCABA baseball last year.#