The So-Cal Shepherds won a close one at La Habra by the score of 3-2 against the East LA Dodgers. The Sheps got back over .500 with the win and gained momentum going into the July 4th break before playing three games the next three days.
The Dodgers opened the scoring after three straight singles to start the inning and scored a run before Starter Ritter Steinmann worked out of the jam to allow the single run in the inning.
Ritter would settle in and wouldn't give up another run as a pitchers' duel broke out in La Habra. Ritter threw six innings giving up three hits and one run on five walks and five strikeouts.
On the other side, Noe Novella for the Dodgers threw 5 ⅓ without allowing a hit but giving up a run on five walks and eight strikeouts.
The Shepherds would get a run in the fourth without a hit as Aaron Zubiate earned a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on an error as he would go on to score on a ground out to second.
The Sheps would get their first hit in the seventh as Drew Salyers hit a single to advance JP Hefft and make it first and second with no outs. The Sheps would take the lead in the inning as Brenden Coffindaffer would single in a run before Brandon Adams hit a Sacrifice fly to score an insurance run and make the score 3-1 going into the eighth inning.
Cameron Kelley would come into the game in the Ninth inning to close it out, he gave up a solo homerun but was able to shut the Dodgers down and get his second save of the year.
Those two singles in the seventh were the only two hits by the Sheps in the game as they were out hit five to two but still got the win with a score of 3-2.
The Shepherds will try to keep the two win streak going on July 5th against the Ventura County Pirates at home at 4:00 PM. To stay up to date on all things Shepherds baseball follow us on Instagram (@shepherds_baseball), Twitter (@SoCalShpherds), Facebook (Southern California FCA Baseball) and our new Tiktok (@Shepherdsbaseball).