Coast Win First Knockout Round to Keep Win Streak Alive

MARYSVILLE, CA – The Long Beach Coast (25-6) defeated the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds (10-21) in a back-and-forth battle, ending in the first franchise Knockout Round victory for the Coast.

The Coast began their third series at Bryant Field on Tuesday night following a three-game series sweep over the same team in Long Beach the previous weekend. Coast first baseman and former Yuba-Sutter slugger Cuba Bess secured the first and only lead of the game with an RBI single to right field in the top of the first.

Coast starter Nathan Hemmerling began his fifth start of the season hot with three scoreless innings, but received little run support in the first third of the ballgame.

In the top of the fourth, Coast outfielder Emilio Corona hit a 421-foot solo shot over the left field wall to double the Coast lead for a 2-0 advantage. The big fly was Corona’s fifth at Bryant Field and his 10th of the season, catapulting him into the team lead and becoming the first Coast player to reach double-digit dingers. 

In the bottom of the same frame, the lone Coast lead of the early innings would disappear following a seven-run rally by the Freebirds for a lead they held for the following three innings.

The seven-run rally in the bottom of the fourth tied for the most runs the Coast have given up in a single frame, a feat that has occurred four seperate times this season. Hemmerling exited the game before the conclusion of the fourth inning, with all seven runs falling on his final line.

Freebirds relievers Dan Galef and Sean Wiese held the five-run lead for the fifth and sixth innings, but in the final three frames, the Coast began their comeback effort.

Long Beach infielders Patrick Roche and Anthony Mata cashed in two runs in the top of the seventh with a pair of RBI hits to cut the deficit to three. Mata finished his day with four hits, making him the 10th instance of a four-hit game in the first 31 games and marking his first game with more than two hits this season.

Opening Night starter Gary Grosjean made a relief appearance after stretchtime to hold the line at the 7-4 deficit the Coast found themselves in. Grosjean, fresh off of the injured list, threw two innings of scoreless baseball in his first appearance since the first-ever Coast game he started on May 19 in Yuba-Sutter.

In the top of the eighth, Jacob Jablonski cracked a three-run home run to tie the game at 7-7. The four-base hit was Jablonski’s ninth off the season, tying him for second place on the Coast with Bess.

Freebirds catcher Diego Aragon cut the positive trend for the Coast short in the bottom of the eighth with a home run of his own off of Mason Bryant, who like Grosjean was recently activated from the injured list. 

The Freebirds took their second and final lead of the game with a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth to set up a save situation in the ninth for the league-leader in the saves category, Tristan Wolf. After walking Coast outfielder Eddy Pelc, the league-leader in walks for the third time of his night, Cooper Vest knocked his seventh home run of the season to make it a one-run game. For Wolf, it was the second home run he had allowed this year, with the last one occurring on May 30 against the Coast.

Jablonski tied the game for the second and final time with an RBI single off of Wolf, knotting the game at 10-10 and sending the Coast into their third Knockout Round, having lost both prior.

In the first round, Cuba Bess and Freebirds outfielder Josh Phillips tied at two home runs each, with Phillips running out of time in his two minutes allotted.

Jablonski, with four RBI and a home run on the day in regulation, started the second Knockout Round with two home runs. Freebirds infielder Easton Amundson was able to get one home run in the round, but was eliminated after his fifth out fell short of the fence.

The Coast extended their current winning streak to eight, having also won their ninth game over the Freebirds in their initial 10 matchups. The Long Beach Coast remain in first place over the Billings Mustangs by half a game, becoming the first team in the 2026 PBL season to reach 25 wins.

The Coast now need to win one of their next two games to extend their series win streak to seven. Game Two of the three-game road series in Marysville starts on Wednesday night at 6:35 PM PDT.

Joey Miller