WNCC baseball beats Modesto

The Western Nevada Community College baseball team returned to the formula that made it successful in an 8-0 win over Modesto on Thursday in a scrimmage at John L. Harvey Field.

WNCC had solid pitching and defense in the win against a program that was ranked No. 3 in California and won the Central Valley Conference last year.

The nine-inning game took only two hours and 15 minutes, a far cry from last week's eight-inning game against the Reno Astros, a four, 15 minute marathon that WNCC won 16-13.

"We cleaned up our defense a little bit," WNCC coach D.J. Whittemore said. "We threw a lot more strikes. We're getting back to the recipe we have."

Jake Bottari pitched three innings for the win and was supported by two double plays. "He pitched very well," Whittemore said.

Kyle Bondurant hit a three-run double that made it 8-0. Brad Carlsen went 3-for-4, Thomas Miller and Pat Grennan each had two hits and Logan Parsley, Andrew Ferguson and Cliff Shepard all added a hit. Ryan Simpson walked three times.

WNCC will play Modesto at 2 p.m. today at John L. Harvey Field, but will be undermanned as 11 of its sophomores will be playing in the Scenic West Athletic Conference All-Star series in Salt Lake City. The series, designed to be a showcase for college coaches and pro scouts, will consist of a 7 p.m. game today and an 11 a.m. game Saturday.

The Wildcats' top five pitchers will be featured: Justin Garcia, Dan Grubbs, Cole Rohrbough, Stephen Sauer and Josh Brink. Also featured for WNCC will be Taylor Meiras, Simpson, Bondurant, Miller, Carlsen and Grennan.

Whittemore said several Division I programs have been scouting his players, including Nevada, Kansas and Arizona State.