GRIZZLY SENIOR A.J. HALL TRIES TO STRETCH A SINGLE INTO A DOUBLE AND IS TAGGED OUT AT SECOND BASE IN LAST WEEK’S SAL VICTORY OVER LE GRAND. HALL DID NOTCH AN RBI ON THE PLAY. GAZETTE PHOTO BY DAN TUCKER Early in the season, head coach Bruce Vegely said sometimes it was better to be lucky than good when his Grizzly baseball team pulled out a close game.

The Grizzlies have matured.

It was talent and skill that earned Mariposa a critical win at Waterford Tuesday afternoon, 7-6.

“We had 8 strikeouts in the first 4 innings, then we woke up,” Vegely said.

The Grizzlies trailed, 2-0, going into the top of the fifth inning.

Kevin Foraker led off the rally with a single, and Jarrett Miller connected on a one-bagger. Designated hitter Austin Garibay was hit by a pitch to load the bases for clean-up hitter Jarrett Leonard. Leonard delivered a smash over the leftfielder’s head that scored three runs and left him at third base with a stand-up triple.

Ian Merzwinski spanked an infield single to score Leonard and move the Grizzlies to a 4-2 lead. Tommy Stickles, Mariposa’s master of the drag bunt, did exactly that to push Merzwinski over the plate and boost the lead to 5-2.

The Grizzlies added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth when Colin Ritter singled. Garibay singled, and Leonard followed with a 1-base hit to score Ritter. Garibay scored on a wild pitch to push the Grizzlies’ advantage to 7-2.

The Wildcats posted their own rally with 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth to narrow the margin.

It was the bottom of the seventh inning where Mariposa showed its mettle.

Waterford loaded the bases with no outs on the scoreboard. Leonard, who came in to relieve winning pitcher Jacob Johnson, struck out the fourth and fifth hitters and got the sixth hitter to ground out to first base to preserve the win. Leonard was on the mark from the mound. He threw just 16 pitches in his brief stint, but 14 were strikes. “His curve ball was wicked,” Vegely said. “When he’s really on, he can be dominating.”

In the Le Grand spanking, Mariposa scored early and often.

A pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning started the rout. With one out, Ritter hamered a double to the centerfield fence. Miller worked the Bulldog hurler for a free pass before Leonard slapped a single for a pair of RBIs and a 2-0 lead.

The Grizzlies added a run in the bottom of the next inning when Stickles ripped a one-bagger, and Johnson followed suit with a single. Centerfield Nick Leard slapped a no-out sacrifice to center, scoring Stickles to pad the lead.

With one out in the third inning, Garibay parked an 0-2 count offering on the other side of the fence for a solo home run. Leonard followed with a free pass and advanced to second on an overthrow to first base on a pick-off attempt. A.J. Hall cracked a single to center to score Leonard, but Hall was put out at second when he tried to stretch the hit into a double.

Le Grand’s defense crumbled in the fourth inning, and the Grizzlies pushed 7 runs over the plate.

After four straight miscues by the Bulldogs, Mariposa put together four straight hits with three singles and double to push the game out of reach. The Grizzlies added to their total with two runs in the fifth when the game was called on the 10-run mercy rule.

Mariposa rolled up 10 hits against the Bulldog pitching staff, and Le Grand committed 6 errors. Leonard threw four and a third innings and gave up just 3 hits and a pair earned runs to earn the win. Johnson polished off the last two thirds of an inning with no hits.

The race for the league pennant comes down to three final games for Mariposa. The Grizzlies will tangle with league-leading Turlock Christian on the Eagles’ home field Thursday afternoon in a mustwin game.