Long Beach Shuts Out Modesto For First Time at Home

LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Coast (18-4) served the Modesto Roadsters (12-10) their 10th loss of the season in a one-sided 8-0 shutout on Friday night.

Garrett Van Deventer made his second start for Long Beach to kick off the second “Regulators” alternate identity night at Blair Field, throwing 90 pitches in four innings of work. Van Deventer allowed runners in scoring position with seven hits and two walks allowed, but each time left a total of nine Roadsters stranded.

The Regulators offense was revving early – Eddy Pelc led off the bottom of the first with his first four-bagger sent over the right field wall for an early lead. Pelc would score again in the second inning, driving in Anthony Mata on an RBI single to center field in his second trip to the plate. 

The 2-0 Regulators lead hit a standstill, with zero runs plating over the next four innings. Roadsters starter Devyn Hernandez and Long Beach’s initial relief arm Ryan Faulks had a combined eight strikeouts (four for Faulks, five for Hernandez) in those silent middle frames.

Immediately following stretchtime, Long Beach batted 17 in their final two offensive innings to give some insurance to their bullpen – four runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth, the majority of which came in the form of the top four in the lineup (Eddy Pelc, Patrick Roche, Cooper Vest and Cuba Bess), giving the 8-0 advantage heading into the ninth. 

Jaxon Byrd, a rookie southpaw signed just before the Friday contest, made his professional debut, facing five batters and completing the second shutout for the Long Beach pitching staff in the early 2026 campaign.

The five arms for Long Beach combined for 14 Modesto strikeouts, including a platinum sombrero (five strikeouts) to the Roadsters’ leadoff center fielder Justin Boyd, who was 7-for-13 in the first three games of the series.

Faulks (1-0) received his first decision after tossing two innings and facing seven batters. Hernandez (0-1) received his first loss on the year in his second start for Modesto.

Long Beach now carries a 3-1 series advantage into the final weekend of their inaugural homestand. The Coast need only one win in the final two games against Modesto to take the first-ever I-5 series before heading to Oakland next week.

Next game is on Saturday night, with the Beach Ball Pregame Show at 4:15 PM PDT and first pitch at 4:35 PM at Blair Field. Prior to the game, the team will unveil their mascot for the first time.

Joey Miller