Long Beach Falls Short of Miraculous Comeback Attempt

MARYSVILLE, CA – The Long Beach Coast (31-9) received their first loss of July in the series opener against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds (13-27) on Friday night.

Long Beach southpaw Matthew O’Brien, who was signed on Tuesday and had made one appearance from the bullpen the same night, made his first professional start. O’Brien gave up three runs in the initial three full innings he pitched. After giving up a run in the bottom of the first inning to Yuba-Sutter, O’Brien threw a scoreless second. With the hold, the Coast took their first and only short-lived lead of the game in the top of the third, courtesy of an error by Freebirds shortstop Devon Dixon.

The lone 2-1 Coast lead was erased two batters into the bottom of the third inning, when Freebirds second baseman Jordan Donahue hit a go-ahead two-run home run. Yuba-Sutter went on to score multiple runs in the four innings following the lone zero that O’Brien had in the second, carrying that lead all the way through regulation.

O’Brien began his fourth frame by allowing three consecutive hits to the bottom part of Yuba-Sutter’s lineup, leading to his early exit after recording zero outs in that inning. Liam Rocha came in to relieve O’Brien, giving up four straight walks that led to two runs on his line. Much like O’Brien in that inning, Rocha left his relief appearance having not recorded an out.

Yuba-Sutter scored five runs each in both the fourth and fifth innings, breaking ahead in the middle of the game. Coast first baseman Cooper Vest more than doubled the Long Beach run total with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth, but the Freebirds’ run production persisted.

Freebirds catcher Diego Aragon scored the 15th run for his team on an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, marking the second time the Coast had ever been in a double-digit deficit (15-5). The 10-run deficit tied for the most runs that Long Beach had ever trailed, with the previous instance also against the Freebirds in Marysville on June 24.

Johnny Pappas, normally a catcher for Long Beach, took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning with a 15-6 deficit. Much to his team’s surprise, he needed only nine pitches to retire three Freebirds batters in order for a perfect frame.

Pappas’s shutdown inning triggered a late surge for the Coast offense in the top of the sixth, turning what was once a 10-run deficit into a three-run deficit. Freebirds relievers Brenton Theils and Tristan Wolf gave up a total of six runs in the top of the eighth, with Matthew Bardowell’s second grand slam of the year contributing to the majority of the rally.

In the bottom of the eighth, Pappas returned to the hill in search of his second potential shutdown inning, but after giving up a leadoff five-pitch walk to Freebirds right fielder Christian Castaneda, manager Troy Percival went to a more conventional bullpen arm.

Ryan Faulks allowed Pappas’s baserunner to score on a wild pitch, followed by an RBI single by Yuba-Sutter first baseman Andrew Kirchner for a run on Faulk’s line as well. 

Tristan Wolf handled the Coast in the top of the ninth, securing the series opener for Yuba-Sutter and the third win of the initial 13 matchups against Long Beach.

The 17-12 final score marked the most runs allowed in a game by the Coast pitching staff. O’Brien, who was responsible for six of the 17 Freebirds runs, took his first professional loss.

Long Beach assumed the “Regulators” identity in the series-opening loss on Friday, ending a seven-game win streak and resulting in the second loss for Long Beach under the alternate moniker – their first Regulators loss since May 22 in Oakland.

The Coast will look to bounce back in the middle game and lower their magic number of three to clinch a first-half playoff berth, set to take place on Saturday night at Bryant Field at 5:35 PM PDT.

Joey Miller