Grand Beginning Leads Coast to Series Sweep

OAKLAND, CA – The Long Beach Coast (6-3) blasted the Oakland Ballers (3-6) 9-5 on Thursday night in the Bay Area to secure their first-ever series sweep. Left fielder Matthew Bardowell crushed a grand slam in the second inning to set the Coast up before a ninth inning walk parade handed Long Beach the victory.

LBC right-hander Jack Martin slung six innings of work on the way to his first win of the season, letting up two runs on five hits and striking out four batters. A bullpen effort from Ryan Faulks, Jake Dixon, Steven Ordorica, and Zach Voelker combined for three innings, three runs allowed, three hits, and two strikeouts. Voelker recorded both Ks on the way to his first save of the season, a 1.1 IP effort.

Coast right fielder Eddie Pelc set the team mark for walks in a game with four. The Huntington Beach-native’s lone hit helped the LBC rebound from a rough start.

 Long Beach fell behind in the first inning 2-0 before blistering to a six-run rally in the top of the second. Pelc’s single and Bardowell’s grand slam played the major factors in that frame. After the B’s closed the gap to 6-5 with a three-run eighth, third baseman Paul Winland strung through an insurance run on a base knock to right field before a Cuba Bess sacrifice fly and the second of Emilio Corona’s two RBI-walks.

The road trip continues back to Marysville for a three-game series against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds on Friday night with a 6:35 p.m. PST first pitch. The Coast plays the first home game in franchise history against the RedPocket Mobiles on Tuesday with a 6:35 p.m. start time.

Jesse Cook