With a playoff spot already secured and the regular season entering its final three weeks, the Long Beach Coast find themselves navigating one of their roughest stretches of an otherwise dominant inaugural season.
Long Beach (56-22) dropped two of three games against the Oakland Ballers last weekend at Blair Field, continuing a stretch that has seen the Coast go 4-6 over their last 10 games. Despite the recent skid, the Coast remains in first place by two games as it prepares to host the Missoula PaddleHeads for a six-game series this week.
The Coast opened the weekend on a high note Friday, taking a dramatic Knockout Round victory over the defending Pioneer Baseball League champion Ballers.
Starter Nathan Hemmerling was dominant, tossing six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Hemmerling retired the first 10 batters he faced and received immediate support from Emilio Corona, who launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Corona added another RBI in the fifth on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice to give Long Beach a 4-0 advantage.
Eddy Pelc also made league history Friday, drawing his 100th walk of the season to become the first player in Pioneer League history to reach triple-digit walks in a single season.
Oakland chipped away at the lead before tying the game with three unearned runs in the ninth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Noah Blythe lifted a fly ball to right-center field that Corona was unable to secure, allowing all three runners to score.
After neither team scored again in regulation, the game moved to a Knockout Round, where each team selected a hitter for a home run derby-style showdown.
Oakland’s Jeter Ybarra failed to homer in five swings before Cuba Bess stepped in for Long Beach. Bess needed just one swing, blasting a ball over the right-field wall to give the Coast their first Knockout Round victory over Oakland this season.
The momentum didn’t carry through the rest of the weekend, however, as Oakland responded by taking the next two games, including a 4-3 win Sunday.
Brett Wozniak made his first start in 58 days after returning from the injured list and allowed a three-run homer to Blythe in the second inning. Wozniak was limited to 42 pitches over two innings.
Gary Grosjean provided a strong effort out of the bullpen, retiring nine consecutive Oakland hitters while striking out five from the third through fifth innings. The Ballers added another run in the sixth on Logan Johnstone’s RBI single to extend their lead to 4-1.
Long Beach made one final push in the eighth after Oakland reliever Tyler Bates issued three free passes. The Coast brought two runs home to cut the deficit to 4-3, but stranded the potential tying run in scoring position.
Ballers closer Christian Diaz worked through a 19-pitch ninth inning to secure the victory and hand Long Beach its second consecutive loss.
The Coast finished their first August homestand 3-3 and are 19-11 in the second half.
