Three Fullerton pitchers combine on a shutout in Anaheim Lions Tournament victory

Fullerton players (from left) Gavin Talavera, Calin Williams, Caleb Brown, Garrett Wightman, Caden Wise and Devon Mendez celebrate the win. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Three Fullerton pitchers combined to hurl a six-hit shutout as the Indians defeated Chaparral 1-0 in an Anaheim Lions Baseball Tournament game Friday afternoon at Fullerton.

Caden Wise, Garrett Wightman and Gavin Talavera stranded 11 baserunners and struck out seven between them.

Chaparral (5-2) came into Friday’s game with a team batting average of .442 and had averaged 11 runs a game. However, the Indians pitching trio came up big in the clutch.

“We felt like coming into the season that pitching was going to be one of our strong points,” said Indians Coach Shaun Hill. “Today was the type of pitching performance we’ve been expecting. They each had great location and it was a great high school baseball game.”

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Wise went the first three innings, gave up three hits, and struck out four. He pitched out of a jam in the first inning and then escaped a bases loaded threat in the second and struck out Xavier Doughty for the third out in the third inning with two runners on.

“I had trust in my teammates behind me, and I wasn’t afraid to give a hit ” said Wise, a right handed senior. “Today, my fastball and slider were working well and it’s all about the win and we got the win.” 

Garrett Wightman took over for Fullerton (5-1) in the fourth inning and pitched until he was relieved with two outs in the seventh inning. Wightman was supported by several key defensive plays from third baseman Luke Gonzalez and left fielder Devon Mendez. 

“I know my teammates have my back; I have total trust in them,” said Wightman. 

Mendez’s diving catch for the third out in the top of the sixth inning was critical and kept Chaparral off the scoreboard. 

“I got a great jump on the ball and it feels amazing to help our team win,” said Mendez who made the diving catch near the left field foul line, preventing a Chaparral run. Wightman gave up three hits, struck out two and stranded five Pumas baserunners. 

Trailing 1-0, Chaparral third baseman Dean Mariani led off the top of the seventh inning with a double down the right field line. Wightman retired the next two hitters while keeping Mariani at second base. Hill then went to his closer, Gavin Talavera for the final out. 

“I didn’t really want to come out of the game but Gavin (Talavera) had an outstanding changeout and we felt he had a better chance of getting the hitter out. It’s all about winning,” Wightman said. 

Talavera promptly struck out Jaiden Lopez to end the game and was mobbed by his teammates. 

“I was mentally prepared to come into the game at any time and when I got the call I was wasn’t nervous,” said Talavera. “My teammates put me in a good position and I was able to do my job.”

Indians catcher Calin Williams said the pitchers were on target.

“Each of the pitchers had good location and executed really well today,” said Williams. “Even though Chaparral had a lot of men on base, each of our guys kept their composure and threw strikes.”

Fullerton scored the only run in the game in the bottom of the third inning. Evan Terrazas led off by drawing a walk and was sacrificed to second by Ronnie Martinez. Gonzalez and Mason Park each drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Fullerton designated hitter Caleb Brown then drilled a ball off the left center field fence, scoring Terrazas. 

However, on the play, Gonzalez rounded third and headed for home but the Pumas got the ball back into the infield quickly. Gonzalez stopped midway between third and home and was caught in a run-down.

He retreated back to third base only to see that Park had advanced to third base on the play. Gonzalez was tagged out for the second out of the inning and Park remained at third. Williams then grounded to third to end the inning but the Indians took a 1-0 lead.

Pumas coach Chris Dress said his team missed multiple opportunities. 

“We left 11 men on base; 100 percent that was the difference in the game,” said Dress. “We had great opportunities to score in five of the seven innings but we couldn’t come up with that big hit we needed. We’ll forget about this one on the bus trip home and get ready to play Yorba Linda on Tuesday.”  

Notes:

—-Five former Fullerton players are currently on Fullerton JC’s baseball roster this season (Nico Lopez, Nico Mendez, Malachi Meni, Miguel Velasquez and Carlos Barrios). Former Indians shortstop, Zach Fany, is currently playing for Golden West College this season.

—-The Indians managed only two hits in Friday’s game. Terrazas had an infield single in the fourth inning for Fullerton’s only other hit in the game, aside from Brown’s RBI double.