Game 2: For Pioneers, a shot worth remembering

Tyler Pittmon said he had a walk-off home run earlier in the season.

"But it was nothing like this," the Antelope Valley infielder said.

"This is crazy. I'm going to remember that one forever."

About "that one."

With his team tied in the bottom of the ninth on Friday, Pittmon got under a fastball down the middle to send the baseball out of Harris Field and his squad from Lancaster, Calif., to the winners' bracket of the Avista NAIA World Series.

The Pilgrims defeated Reinhardt of Waleska, Ga., 2-1 in the opening game of the tournament, which drew 1,840 spectators.

As the Series continues today, Antelope Valley will face Faulkner at 3 p.m., hoping to keep the Pilgrims' Series record unblemished while Reinhardt will simply look to stay alive as it faces Oklahoma City at 8:30 a.m. in a loser-out contest.

"I think it just shows what type of team we are," Antelope Valley coach Jacob Garsez said. "We squared up a lot of baseballs in this game but didn't get rewarded for it ... but we stuck with it, kept trusting our plan, trusting each other and Tyler Pittmon's a heck of a player and came up big for us there at the end."

Correction - not just at the end.

In the bottom of the sixth, Pittmon's RBI double tied Antelope Valley with Reinhardt - that play making possible his later heroics.

The Pilgrims made a number of clutch defensive plays throughout the game to stay within striking distance at the end.

In the eighth, when Reinhardt loaded the bases, Pilgrim second baseman Michael Pereznegron jump-started a 4-6-3 double play for the final out.

And one inning later, with Reinhardt runners on first and second, Pittmon gunned down the runner heading for third for the first out of the inning, and Antelope Valley's closer handled things from there.

Pilgrim reliever Justin Stark induced the following two batters into a fly out, then a line out, to end the top of the ninth.

Antelope Valley's other pitcher came through, too. Over eight innings of work, Jacob Castillo scattered seven hits while giving up one run and fanning twice as many batters (8) as he walked (4).

"Castillo threw extremely well and minimized their opportunities," Garsez said. "Gave up the solo homer but just kept competing, kept trusting his defense when we had runners and pitched well for us."

About that solo homer: The Eagles' Shane Graves put his team up 1-0 on a no-doubter to left-center in the fourth.

Pittmon nearly answered in the bottom of the frame, but his potential game-tying shot petered out at the warning track, a continuation of a frustrating trend from a day earlier.

"Yesterday, we took (batting practice) here," Pittmon said, "and I kept trying to go center and couldn't quite get it. ... I finally got the muscle to get it out, I guess."

REINHARDT ANtelope Valley

ab r h bi a r h bi

Rodriguez ss 4 0 1 0 Pereznegron 2b 3 1 0 0

Trawick cf 5 0 0 0 Harrison dh 4 0 0 0

Swayze rf 3 0 1 0 Pittmon 1b 4 1 2 2

Graves dh 3 1 1 1 Maciel cf 2 0 0 0

Cagle 3b 3 0 1 0 Cox rf 3 0 1 0

Vaccaro 1b 4 0 0 0 Broaddus 3b 3 0 0 0

Nunez lf 2 0 1 0 Gayle ss 3 0 0 0

Arnold lf 1 0 1 0 Casteneda c 2 0 0 0

Martinez c 2 0 0 0 Garcia ph 1 0 0 0

Wold 2b 4 0 2 0 McKendrick lf 3 0 1 0

Totals 31 1 8 1 28 2 4 2

Reinhardt 000 100 000-1 8 0

Antelope Valley 000 001 001-2 4 2

Reinhardt ip h r er bb so

Powers (L,11-4) 8 4 2 2 2 6

Antelope Valley ip h r er bb so

Castillo 8 7 1 1 4 8

Stark (W,3-1) 1 1 0 0 0 0

Attendance - 1,840

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Edelman may be contacted at bedelman@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2277.