Boys of summer back

Anthony Bass didn’t appear to have any opening night jitters on the mound Thursday for the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox at All Seasons RV Stadium.

The right-handed starting pitcher who will be a senior at Wayne State University next spring looked absolutely dominant at times, baffling the Seaside Wildcats of Oregon with a variety of nasty pitches.

Bass pitched seven sparkling innings, allowing just three hits and no runs as the Gold Sox stayed perfect on opening day with a 6-0 victory in the first of a four-game Horizon Air Summer Series set.

“The first inning I was a little nervous pitching in front of such a large crowd, but I came out here and just wanted to throw strikes,” Bass said. “My fastball and change-up were working so I basically stuck with that and I got the job done and that’s all I was looking for.”

Bass was Wayne State’s top thrower this spring, collecting an 8-3 record with a 3.38 ERA. He showed endurance as well, pitching five complete games for the Warriors.

Each team looked rusty using a wood bat for the first time this summer, but Bass made the transition even more difficult for the Wildcats.

He struck out 10, five looking, and did not walk a batter. He allowed a two-out single in the first inning and then retired 11 straight into the fifth before allowing a single.

“He established his fastball and we talked about that in the beginning of the game,” first-year manager Jack Johnson said. “The pitcher’s have an advantage early on and they have to establish their fastball. A lot of these guys will come out and they’ll try to throw everything they’ve got in their arsenal and you don’t have to.”

Bass faced just two over the minimum through seven innings before giving way to Feather River College sophomore Dakota Watts from Oroville.

“He (Bass) used his fastball early on, he located it really well and I think he learned real quick that he could live on a fastball, change-up and he did,” Johnson said.

Watts pitched two flawless innings, striking out four.

The Gold Sox managed just four hits but took advantage of the opportunities they had with runners on base. The Wildcats walked five batters and hit two, and the Gold Sox produced four runs from the free passes.

“The first seven guys can run, so they’re going to be running around the bases hopefully,” Johnson said. “And you’ll see a lot of that where we’ll score more than we’ll hit because we will take advantage of the walks, because we can run.”

A walk and a hit batter with one out in the seventh inning led to James Mayorga’s two-run single that gave the Gold Sox a 5-0 lead. Mayorga ripped a pitch from reliever Blair Taranto down the right-field line, scoring Chris Houk and Matt Edgecombe.

“Well, the first pitch the coach gave me a hit-and-run, so I was in the hole with a strike, but the guy just came back with a fastball on the outside half and I just went with it,” Mayorga said.

Reese Gorman of Metro State in Colorado was the only Gold Sox hitter to collect multiple hits. The catcher hit a single up the middle off Andrew DeMott (0-1) in the first inning and later scored on a balk. Reese dropped a high-looping ball just onto the grass in right field in the third inning.

The Gold Sox benefited from an error and walk in the third, scoring twice to take a three-run lead, 3-0. Etienne Materre’s fielder’s choice ground ball to shortstop drove in a run, and Joel Torres drove a ground ball through the gap at shortstop to plate a run.

Chris Houk walked with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, pushing across the Gold Sox final run. Erik Dodge, Seaside’s fourth pitcher, walked the first two batters he faced and hit the third before giving Houk a free pass.

Note: Woodland product Brad Simmons, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-handed pitcher out of Cal Baptist will start tonight’s game.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Justin Miller can be reached at 749-4796. You may e-mail him at jmiller@appealdemocrat.com