Pirates battle back for 11-5 win at Merced

MERCED – Johnny Reed went 2 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI to help lead Porterville College to an 11-5 win at Merced College on Thursday in Game 2 of a three-game Central Valley Conference series.

With the victory, the Pirates improved to 13-19 overall and 5-11 in the CVC.

Porterville erased a 4-0 deficit after three innings, scoring all 11 off its runs over the final six frames to rally for the win.

Reed got the Pirates on the board with his three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning to get PC within one.

Merced got a run back, responding with one in the bottom of the fourth. From that point, it was all Porterville.

Jimmy Martinez Jr. hit an RBI double in the fifth before Reed evened up the score at 5-5 with a run-scoring double in the sixth.

Koda Larsen put the Pirates out in front for good with an RBI single in the seventh, followed by a bases-clearing double from Hank Allred that scored three runs and put the game out of reach.

Martinez Jr. drove in a final run in the ninth with a double.

Jacob Amador picked up the win after allowing 5 runs and 7 hits over 6 innings. Martinez Jr. was solid in relief, closing out the contest with 3 shutout innings for the save.

Game 3 of the series is set for Friday (Apr. 12) back in Porterville.