Tigers seize momentum, run down Trojans

Tokay pitcher Zach Costa leaves game, taken to hospital after being struck in head by line drive

STOCKTON — What a difference momentum can make.

Tokay High pitcher Zach Costa found himself in trouble when Lincoln's John Bowling doubled to put two runners in scoring position with no outs in the third. But Bowling overran the second-base bag and was thrown out in a rundown before Costa retired the next two batters to escape the jam unscathed.

The visiting Tigers then responded with a six-run fourth, seizing control of the game on their way to an 8-4 victory on Wednesday.

"The guys came into the dugout a little down after the first time through the lineup," Tokay coach Aaron Misasi said. "But the offense got fired up when Zach got out of that inning without allowing any runs."

Tokay (12-4) also received a scare when Costa was drilled in the head on a line drive back to the mound, knocking him to the ground. After a few tense minutes, the junior pitcher, who suffered a cut to the inside of his ear, left the field under his own power and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

"He had some ringing in his ear," Misasi said. "He couldn't hear very well, but he wasn't dizzy. Just a little bit of a headache."

Costa left the game after 51/3 innings of work, allowing seven hits, four walks and hit batter, along with four strikeouts. Costa was tagged for a three-run homer by Drew Steyer in the fourth, but was able to limit the damage outside of that.

Malcolm closed out the game in relief, striking out the final two batters of the contest. The senior was playing shortstop when Costa went down on the line drive, and as a pitcher himself, he could relate to the ever-looming prospect of a batted ball being drilled back to the mound.

"Every pitch is scary because you don't know when it's coming," Malcolm said. "I just hope he can come back, because we need him the rest of the season."

After going hitless the first three frames against Lincoln ace Mark Scott, the Tigers' lineup shined in the fourth. Matt Vera opened the inning with a fly out to deep center, but Malcolm and Sam Seed followed with consecutive singles. With the runners in motion, Bobby Raymos chopped a ball through the infield to plate Malcolm and advance Seed to third. After Seed scored on a wild pitch and Scott Brown walked, Costa legged out an infield single to load the bases.

Zac Rostomily followed with a sacrifice fly and Jordan Sharp laid down a perfect bunt single to reload the bases. Casey McCurdy then delivered the deciding blow with a scorching three-run double to left-center.

Tokay added two more runs on an RBI single by Rostomily in the sixth and a sacrifice fly by Raymos in the seventh.

"We've been focusing on execution, which has been really bad lately," Misasi said. "But we did that today."

The Trojans (6-8), meanwhile, struggled to drive in runs despite eight hits and 14 total baserunners.

"We didn't execute, and Tokay scored every runner from third," Lincoln coach Ben Hall said. "They did a great job of execution and we didn't."

Tokay will host Lincoln at Billy Hebert Field on Friday. First-pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.