Holdren’s two-hitter lifts Rams to victory

Rancho's baseball team didn't have a hit that left the infield Tuesday.

It turned out the Rams didn't need one.

Eric Holdren threw a two-hitter, and Rancho scratched across a run in the seventh inning to edge visiting Las Vegas 1-0 in a game that took just 1 hour and five minutes to play.

"We did just enough to win," Rams coach Tom Pletsch said.

The Wildcats' Eric Fedde took a perfect game into the seventh, but Rancho's Zac Qualls hit a ball deep into the hole at shortstop for an infield single to lead off the seventh. He went to second when shortstop Tanner Chauncey's throw to first sailed over the first baseman's head.

Qualls moved to third on a chopper to third base and scored when Kevin Kline hit a slow roller toward third. Fedde bounced off the mound to field the ball, but his desperation throw to the plate was high, and Qualls scored easily to win the game.

"We were just trying to get somebody on base," Pletsch said. "If we could get somebody on base, we felt like something would happen."

The ending overshadowed a spectacular performance by Fedde, who struck out 10. He consistently threw his breaking ball for strikes early in the count, then got Rancho hitters to chase it for strike three.

"He located his pitches very well, better than I've seen in a long time," Las Vegas coach Sam Thomas said. "He gave one heck of a performance. A real gutsy effort, because that's a good hitting team over there."

The Wildcats had a runner on second with less than two outs in the second and third innings, but Holdren stranded the runners there both times.

Holdren struck out five and walked one. He threw just 75 pitches. Fedde threw only 66 pitches.

The Rams improved to 6-0 in the Northeast League, a game ahead of Las Vegas.

Contact Prep Sports Editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.