The Long Beach Coast is looking to bounce back from a rough week on the road and gear up for some wins in Week 7 of the Pioneer Baseball League.
The Coast faced off with some familiar foes this past week, returning back to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field to host the Oakland Ballers for a home series before hitting the road again to face off with the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds.
At home, Long Beach got on the right side of the ball and swept Oakland in a three-game series. The offense was strong for the Coast, propelling their team to some much-needed wins.
In the series opener, Long Beach fell behind 5-0 by the 4th inning, but the bats weren’t quiet for long. The Coast rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning behind a two-run home run by right fielder Matthew Bardowell.
The offense knocked in five more runs in the game to secure the opening win 8-7. In the second game of the series, the bats stayed awake and got started early to secure another 8-7 win over the Ballers.
Second baseman Jacob Jablonski was the big hitter in Game 2, smacking two home runs in his first two at-bats to give the Coast some padding. Catcher Cuba Bess hit a two-run shot of his own, leading the way for Long Beach’s win.
After clinching the series win, the Coast settled into the series finale and ran away with a 14-1 victory to close out the Oakland Ballers. Although the bullpen had struggled in the previous two contests, it was a good day for southpaw Garrett Van Deventer on the bump.
Van Deventer went the distance for Long Beach, throwing 83 pitches through the nine innings. Being backed up by his offense, Van Deventer secured his third consecutive win on the mound in the 14-1 final score.
The Coast hit the road the very next day to begin playing the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds. Long Beach couldn’t shake the away-team jitters, falling in their first two contests with the Freebirds before securing a win on Sunday.
Each of the losses were high-scoring games, with the Coast falling 17-12 and 14-13 respectively. Even with deficits, Long Beach still showed some strength at the plate.
In the first game, the Coast took the field as the Regulators. First baseman Cooper Vest helped his team on offense with a three-run homer, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Freebirds. Yuba-Sutter led 15-5 going into the 6th inning, marking only Long Beach’s second time trailing by double digits.
But, the 6th inning allowed the Regulators to turn the power up on offense, scoring seven runs to cut their deficit down to just three. Bardowell was the highlight of the rally when he hit his second grand slam of the season, but it wasn’t enough as the Freebirds came away with the win.
In the second game, more bats woke up to give Long Beach some power on offense. Cuba Bess played as the team’s Designated Hitter, where he hit a three-run home run in the 5th inning to cut Yuba-Sutter’s lead. This homer was Bess’s 13th this year, tying him for 3rd place in the PBL.
Bess also hit a sac-fly to tie the score up 8-8 in the top of the 6th. Two batters later, second baseman Patrick Roche hit a three-run homer to give the Coast their first lead at 11-8. However, Yuba-Sutter’s consistent offense powered them back to a 14-13 win.
In the series finale, Long Beach fought back to claim a 13-8 victory to close out the week. They avoided their first opposing sweep thanks to another strong offensive performance.
The Coast exploded in the first few innings, leading 10-1 through the 3rd. Some of these runs were courtesy of a two-run shot from center fielder Emilio Corona, tying Bess with his 13th home run of the season.
This runaway start was enough to power Long Beach through to the win. The Coast will continue battling the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds this week, as they begin another three-game series at home on Tuesday. Long Beach will travel for the weekend contests, facing off with the Modesto Roadsters.
