Whiplash Ballgame Hands Coast Sweep of Ballers`
The Long Beach Coast (40-11) scraped by the Oakland Ballers (22-29) in a 12-9 marathon ballgame lasting three hours and 55 minutes on Thursday night, completing the Coast’s third sweep of the Ballers.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 12 | 11 | 1 |
LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Coast (40-11) scraped by the Oakland Ballers (22-29) in a 12-9 marathon ballgame lasting three hours and 55 minutes on Thursday night, completing the Coast’s third sweep of the Ballers.
Oakland and Long Beach tied the game five times throughout the longest contest in L.B.C. history.
Down a run, the Coast rebounded with a four-run third inning, characterized by home runs from left fielder Eddy Pelc and first baseman Cuba Bess. The former Red Sox and Rockies farmhand, Bess, would homer again in the fifth inning to take the team lead in long balls at 15 and grant the home crew a 9-7 lead.
The turning point arrived in the eighth inning tied up at 9-9 when pinch runner Jaylen Edmonds capitalized on a moment of relief for Oakland. Right fielder Cooper Vest lined out to right with Edmonds on second base. Ballers right fielder Noah Blythe leapt to grab the ball, but while he recovered on the ground, Edmonds burst around third and ambushed Oakland for the lead.
Starter Garrett Van Deventer left after four innings of work, allowing four runs on nine hits with a trio of strikeouts. A carousel of right-handers David Whittle, Ryan Faulks, Steven Ordorica, Gary Grosjean, and Zach Voelker followed up. Grosjean earned his third win of the season with 2.1 no-hit innings of relief. Voelker nailed his Pioneer League-leading 11th save to shut the door with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Long Beach will rematch with Oakland on Tuesday at Blair Field, but before that, the Coast host the Freebirds from Friday through Sunday. The last series of the year between Long Beach and Yuba-Sutter kicks off at 6:35 p.m. PDT on Friday with gates opening at 5:35 p.m. Fans can tune into the broadcast on the Home Team Network and Coast YouTube page at 6:15 p.m. for the Beach Ball Pre-Game Report.
Jesse Cook