Tigers baseball has its chances but lose their first game of season after three straight wins

But the Tigers certainly had their chances Wednesday to get past the visiting Emperors and earn win number four in the Central Valley Diamond Classic (CVDC) opener.

Lemoore hopes to get back on track Friday afternoon (Feb. 21) when they take on Reedley High School in the second round of the CVDC. Game time at Reedley is 3:30 p.m.

Lemoore, in its first three games, has outmatched its opponents defeating Sunnyside 9-1, Kingsbury 8-2, and Coalinga 3-1. The Tigers’ early season is a stark turnaround from last year’s 8-18 overall record and its 1-9 performance in the West Yosemite League.

Behind a strong pitching performance in the early going from Justin Holaday, the Tigers looked impressive as Lemoore took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when pitcher Holaday scored on a fly ball out to right field off the bat of Nacho Carillo.

The Tigers look on Wednesday in Lemoore's home game against Dinuba High School.

Anfernee Murietta’s double in the third inning led to led to a 2-0 lead when Logan Jones, with two on, hit the first pitch into left field, bringing Murietta home.

Dinuba finally responded in the fourth with a towering home run to right field off the bat of Michael Gomez. An error in the fifth loaded the bases for Dinuba and evened the game at 2-2, and then the Emperors took a 4-2 lead when they two runs scored on an infield hit.  

Holiday pitched five innings, giving up just six hits and four runs. Devin Basran went the final two innings for the Tigers, allowing only one hit and no runs. Holaday was no slouch with the bat either. The senior pitcher was two for three in the game and scored twice. Logan James, in three appearances, had one hit and drove in two runs to keep the Tigers close.