Daniel Buratto’s pitching gem lifted Dos Pueblos over San Marcos on Friday. (File Photo)
Daniel Buratto turned in brilliant pitching performance, throwing a one-hitter to lead Dos Pueblos to a 3-0 win over San Marcos in a Channel League baseball game at Scott O’Leary Field on Friday.
The left-handed Buratto retired 15 straight batters before the Royals’ Colin Dosch singled up the middle to start the sixth inning. DP second baseman Drake Hawn dived as far as he could to try and stop the ball, but it was hit too hard.
With one out, the Royals loaded the bases on a couple of DP errors, but Buratto never lost his composure. He retired the Nos. 2 and 3 batters on a foul out to the catcher and grounder to shortstop.
Buratto pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to complete his standout effort. He didn’t walk a batter.
“Daniel did a great job,” DP coach Nick Katzenstein said. “He threw three pitches for strikes; the changeup was working for him today.”
Buratto said he had better command of his pitches than in previous outings.
“The first few starts I was leaving the ball up and they were hitting it, but this time I felt I hit my spots well,” he said. “My curveball felt pretty good today. I was able to throw it for a strike and threw it the dirt when I wanted to.”
San Marcos coach Jacob Pepper was impressed.
“He was on his game,” he said of Buratto. “He’s a competitor. He had all his stuff working; he didn’t walk anybody so he was around the dish all the time.
“Our guys didn’t make adjustments throughout the game,” Pepper added. “He overpowered us a little bit today.”
San Marcos starter Davis Valles pitched well. He went the distance, allowing seven hits.
“Davis was 3-0 on the year for us. We thought he was a good option for us against a powerful team,” Pepper said. “We couldn’t come through on plays and didn’t hit the ball as well today.”
Dos Pueblos came close to blowing the game open early, but Valles came up with clutch pitches to keep the Royals in it.
“Give a lot credit to him,” Pepper said of Valles. “We could have lost that game 10-0.
We battled a little bit.”
The Chargers loaded the bases in the first inning but could score only one run. Michael Boelter came home on a passed ball after singling, moving to second on Luke Coffey single and advancing to third on a fielder’s choice.
Boelter also scored the second run. He doubled in the third, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
The Chargers made it 3-0 in the fourth. Bryant Guzman belted a ball over the center fielder’s head for a triple and scored on a Joshua Tedeschi blooper over third base.
Dos Pueblos loaded the bases in the sixth, but San Marcos third baseman Hunter French threw out a runner at the plate, catcher Parker Rozenberg nailed a runner at third on a double steal and shortstop Wesley Ghan Gibson made a diving catch of a liner off the bat of Hawn.
Dos Pueblos improves to 2-1 in Channel League and 6-8 overall, while San Marcos is 0-2 and 5-10.
