Coast Inaugural Home Opener Blends with Sold Out Crowd into 13-4 Win
The Long Beach Coast (10-3) battered the RedPocket Mobiles (1-12) in the inaugural home game 13-4 on Tuesday night in front of a sold out Blair Field.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 2 |
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0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | X | 13 | 11 | 0 |
LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Coast (10-3) battered the RedPocket Mobiles (1-12) in the inaugural home game 13-4 on Tuesday night in front of a sold out Blair Field. A shutdown beginning on the bump from left-hander Brett Wozniak combined with offensive efficiency up and down the order.
Second baseman Jacob Jablonski credited the victory to the L.B.C. faithful. He recapped, “That was electric. I think we won the game as soon as it started because the crowd was insane. I hope it’s like that everyday. We feed off their energy.”
Despite the Mobiles reaching on small ball singles fueled by shallow contact, Wozniak handled the visiting crew across five innings for his second win. The left-hander limited “The Mob” to four runs on nine hits striking out four.
Out of the pen, it took two arms to halt the Mobiles. Right-hander Julien Hernandez pumped mid-90s fastballs for two frames, striking out four. Cole Cressend nabbed his first clean sheet, wrapping up the contest with two frames in which he earned one K.
Four “Coasters” tagged multi-hit performances. The player of the game, Jablonski, wound up a double shy of the cycle. Including a rocket home run, the Mississippi-native struck the team’s second triple of the season.
What followed the three-bagger involved Jablonski capitalizing on a throwing error and turning the jets to sprint home. After wearing an errant throw off the back, the P.B.L.-third year explained, “As soon as it hit my back, I just went full send.”
The third L.B.C. triple arrived two frames later in the eighth inning from center fielder Emilio Corona, who also sprinted into the first.
Left fielder Eddy Pelc, shortstop Anthony Mata, and designated hitter Thomas McCaffrey all joined the multi-knock club. McCaffrey followed up his stretch that earned him Pioneer League Hitter of the Week honors by slinging the first-ever Pioneer League home run in Long Beach.
The Coast and the Mobiles rematch on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. PST, and the Beach Ball Pre-Game Report hits the Home Team Network at 6:15 p.m.
Jesse Cook