Debiase Allows Bakersfield Little and Pierce Scores Big

Don’t expect to see Jim Debiase shaken up over a measly leadoff double.

After being greeted with a two-bagger by Bakersfield College’s Gibar Bradshaw to start the game, Debiase worked eight outstanding innings as Pierce pounded the Renegades, 10-2, in a Western State Conference South Division baseball game Tuesday.

The freshman right-hander from Chatsworth High allowed three hits and struck out seven. He did not yield another hit until the eighth inning when Bradshaw opened with a single and later scored on a triple by Jay Wiebe.

That was all the noise heard from Bakersfield (10-7-1, 1-2-1 in division play). The Renegades were dominated by Debiase (2-2), who went into the game with a streak of 10 scoreless innings.

“My changeup was working pretty good,” Debiase said. “I didn’t get my curveball until the fourth inning. I was hitting my spots with the fastball and throwing the change for strikes.”

His counterpart, right-hander Freddy Lopez (3-1), was holding his own until the fourth when Pierce (9-10, 5-0) broke loose for three runs on a bases-loaded triple by third baseman Dave Cipolla.

The Brahmas scored another run in the fifth and chased Lopez with two runs in the sixth, when they took a 6-1 lead. They parlayed two hits and three walks into four runs in the seventh.