The Long Beach Coast continue to compete well in the Pioneer League in the team’s first season, as they went 4-2 last week to stay within striking distance of first place. The Coast’s record stands at 28-8 as of print time, including a 13-2 record at home at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. The Coast are 8-2 in their last 10 games, tied for the best mark in the league.
The Coast’s record currently has them in second place in the Pioneer League, a half-game back of 27-7 Billings.
This week the team will face the Oakland Ballers with two games after print deadline as well as Thursday evening contest at 6:35pm at home. They then travel to Yuba (outside of Sacramento) for a weekend series before welcoming the Freebirds Tuesday through Thursday next week.
Last week the team won their series against the Freebirds thanks in part to a knockout tiebreaker win, one of the Pioneer League’s fun spins on the game.
Rather than play extra innings, the teams have a “knockout round” home derby, which the Coast won to claim the tiebreaker. They then followed that up by claiming the series with a 10-8 win in which first baseman Cooper Vest had a three-RBI homerun as part of a massive offensive day that saw him go 2-3 and knock in four runs.
The team then claimed a series win in Modesto over the Roadsters as they won the first two games 4-1 and 13-8 before dropping the finale. The 4-1 win was powered by pitcher Garrett VanDeventer who went seven innings allowing just the one earned run on a solo homerun while striking out seven and yielding just three hits.
The 13-8 victory was powered by Vest, who had a pair of doubles, as well as designated hitter Cuba Bess, who went 3-6 with four RBI including a three-run homerun. Jake Dixon got the win on the mound after coming in to relieve starter Jack Martin, who gave up six runs in four innings.
