New Bullpen Arms Shine in Series-Opening Win at Modesto

MODESTO, CA – The Long Beach Coast (27-7) toppled the Modesto Roadsters (20-14) on Friday night, winning 4-1. Fresh faces Cole Percival and Liam Rocha shut the door for the bullpen in their Long Beach debuts.

Starter Garrett Van Deventer’s second win of the season began with six innings of one-run baseball, allowing only three hits and striking out a season-high seven batters. Rocha relieved him, surrendering just one hit over two frames and striking out three. Percival shut the door in the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout on the way to the save in his Pioneer League introduction.

Cole, son of Manager Troy Percival, joins the Coast out of the Atlantic League with the Lexington Legends. He spent five seasons in affiliate systems with the Dodgers, Angels, Diamondbacks, Twins, and Yankees. Rocha took three years in the Minnesota system, as well, but never appeared on the same roster as Percival.

At the plate, a “Bardo Blast” began the show. The first of right fielder Matthew Bardowell’s two hits left the yard. His seventh home run of the season set the L.B.C. up with a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Left fielder Eddy Pelc, first baseman Cooper Vest, and designated hitter Cuba Bess also joined the multi-hit party.

Long Beach needs to win just one of the two weekend games at Modesto to secure its seventh-consecutive series win and its eighth total. First pitch on Saturday is set for 5:35 p.m. PDT, and fans can keep updated on the Coast social media channels: @lbcoastbaseball on Instagram and @longbeachcoast on Twitter.

Jesse Cook