SOUTH LAKE TAHOE " Douglas High showed in the final two innings that it's difficult to shut down its offense for a complete game.
South Tahoe High starting pitcher Matt Marsh limited the Tigers to six hits and three runs through five innings, effectively changing speeds to keep hitters off stride. But the Tigers' lineup woke up in the sixth inning, scoring six runs against Marsh and reliever Notanee Vasquez to win 11-2 at Todd Fields.
Douglas also won the second game as Kameron Van Winkle tossed six shutout inning in an 8-0 victory.
Tyler May, who homered to lead off the first game, smashed a two-run bomb over the left-field fence to highlight the Tigers' sixth. Van Winkle also went deep in the sixth, depositing his homer over the left-field fence as well.
The Tigers added two insurance runs in the seventh as May and Beau Davis hit sacrifice flies.
After Tanner Thomas plated Davis with an RBI single in the first inning and May scored an unearned run in the second, Marsh was in control. The Vikings' senior retired nine of the 12 hitters he faced in the third through the fifth innings, leaving his team within striking distance at 3-1.
"He did a good job," said Douglas coach John Glover. "He was throwing his breaking ball for strikes often, and he was throwing it when he was behind in the count. That's a big thing for a high school kid to do."
But Douglas solved Marsh in the sixth inning.
"You have to mix it up and keep them off balance and hit your spots. I wasn't pulling through all the way, and I kept leaving them up," Marsh said of his sixth-inning troubles.
Sophomore Michael Whalin no-hit the Vikings the first time through the batting order and finished with a three-hitter. He fanned five, including the side in the fifth inning.
South Tahoe touched Whalin for single runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Derek Holmgren led off the fourth with a base hit to left and took second when the left fielder bobbled the ball. Holmgren went to third on an infield out and scored on Max DeLallo's sharp grounder up the middle, which he beat out for a hit. DeLallo also knocked in the Vikings' second run, poking a single to right field to score Ricky Braun. In that same inning, Douglas escaped further damage when Marsh was called for batter's interference on a hit-and-run play where DeLallo and Prescott advanced a base. DeLallo was sent back to first and Prescott to third when it was ruled that Marsh interfered with Davis' ability to throw to second.
"These guys haven't quit. We've had a lot of bad things happen this year, and they haven't stopped playing," said STHS coach Matt Tillson. "We have character, and that's all you can ask for as a coach."
May finished with three hits and four RBI to lead the Tigers. Davis, Van Winkle and Shane Fencl delivered two hits to trigger Douglas' 12-hit attack.
In game two, May, however, missed an opportunity to put his name in the Douglas High record book for most pitching victories. After throwing a scoreless first inning, May was tossed for aggressive running over Holmgren during a pickle play.
Holmgren was later thrown out for disputing whether his hit was a fair or foul ball. Neither player will be eligible for the final game of the series at 2 p.m. today at Todd Fields.
"It's always been a good rivalry between the two schools," Glover said. "It's just a funny game. You can go as long as you want all season, then something goofy happens. We'll try to get around that and over that, and I know they'll do the same."
Van Winkle didn't miss a beat taking over for May. He gave up five hits and walked only one batter to post the shutout.
"He's one of our go-to guys out of the pen, and I thought he threw well. He threw a lot of strikes. That's the big thing, throwing strikes and not giving away freebies," Glover said.
Douglas scored three times in the first and twice in the third to take command. Van Winkle and Tim Rudnick rapped RBI singles in the first. In the second, Troy Torres delivered a run-scoring base hit and Rudnick produced a sacrifice fly, making the score 5-0.
Jeff Crozier hit the Tigers' fourth sacrifice fly of the day in the sixth to give Douglas a 6-0 lead, and the visitors added two insurance runs in the seventh.
South Tahoe pitchers Matt Blank and Chris Ewing combined for five strikeouts. Blank checked the Tigers on seven hits through five innings.
DeLallo, Prescott, Holmgren, Tanner Braun and Rick Norlie each had a hit in game two. For Douglas, Van Winkle was 3 for 4; Rudnick went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and two RBI; and Torres was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Douglas improved to 11-3 in the Sierra, while the Vikings slipped to 1-13.
