Long Beach Knocks Out Modesto in Road Opener

MODESTO, CA – The Long Beach Coast (35-11) defeated the Modesto Roadsters (27-19) in their fourth Knockout Round of the season on Friday night.

Long Beach assumed their “Regulators” identity for the 10th time this season, starting strong in the top of the first. Long Beach batted all nine and plated five runs on five hits off of Roadsters starter Jonah Jenkins.

The Roadsters responded in the bottom of the first two innings with two solo home runs from third baseman Max Handron and Justin Boyd, narrowing their deficit to three.

The following five half-innings were kept at a 5-2 stalemate, courtesy of Jenkins and Regulators starter Nick Bautista. Modesto broke the stalemate on a two-out RBI triple by second baseman Osiris Johnson, who hit a line drive down the left field line that got caught in the bullpen. Matthew Bardowell, the Long Beach left fielder eventually collected the ball and put out Johnson on a throw home for the controversial third out of the inning.

Long Beach ended their streak of four consecutive scoreless offensive frames on a two run single by designated hitter Eddy Pelc in the top of the sixth. 

Bautista attempted to work through his sixth frame on the mound to potentially tie his season high, but after allowing a pair of runs on a wild pitch and a two-out RBI double by Roadsters designated hitter Dom Rodriguez, Long Beach southpaw Jake Dixon entered the game and recorded the final out on three pitches.

Dixon threw two additional scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings, facing seven batters in those frames while giving up one hit and striking out two Roadsters to hold the two-run Long Beach lead into the ninth. 

Modesto’s bullpen matched pace with Dixon – the final three arms retired the final 11 Long Beach batters in order while striking out six of the final nine offensive outs. Dawson Goines was the first to relieve Jenkins in the seventh with a 16-pitch perfect inning and two strikeouts in his professional debut.

Long Beach closer Zach Voelker took the mound with a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Voelker recorded the first two outs in eight pitches, but on his third batter faced with one strike away from the save, Roadsters leadoff Jacob Lojewski began a rally of three consecutive hits, the final two of which tied the game at 7-7 at the end of regulation.

Long Beach entered their fourth Knockout Round of the year, as well as their second against the Roadsters. Long Beach first baseman Cuba Bess hit four home runs in the first round, while Roadsters center fielder Tyler Williams fell short by one following Bess. 

Long Beach took the final series opener of the first half in Modesto in the first round of the Knockout Round, 4-3. The playoff-bound franchise is now 2-2 in the extracurricular derby finishers, the most recent of which was on June 23 in Yuba-Sutter (KO2). 

Long Beach is now 8-2 in their Regulators uniforms, seven of which have been played on the road. The Coast will have the opportunity to clinch the final first-half series in either game this weekend, the next of which is on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Field at 7:11 PM PDT. The Beach Ball Pregame Show will begin at 6:51 PM on HomeTeam Network and Long Beach Coast on YouTube.

Joey Miller