Ballers End 11-Game Win Streak

LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Coast (44-12) lost to the Oakland Ballers (23-33) on Wednesday’s midweek matchup, marking their first defeat since July 8.

Starters Cole Percival of Long Beach and Reed Butz of Oakland kept both offenses silent, having allowed three hits each through the first five innings and no runs for all but one in the bottom of the second.

Long Beach newcomer Easton Jones took his first at-bat, fourth of his professional career, with two outs in the second. The BYU product launched his first professional hit over the right field fence for a solo shot that gave the Coast their first and only lead of the game. 

After the second inning, no runs on either side scored for the next four innings. Percival produced his longest outing in a Coast uniform with six scoreless frames in his third start. The son of Coast manager and Angels legend Troy Percival struck out five for his season high, leaving the game with the 1-0 Coast lead intact.

The tides turned in the top of the eighth, when the Oakland offense produced their first run of the series on a game-tying single by left fielder Tristan Moore. The Point Loma Nazerene product tallied an RBI for his first hit at the professional level off of Coast reliever Jonathan Kozasky, who attended the same Division II program a year prior to Moore.

Three batters later, Kozasky induced a ground ball to the right side off the bat of Ballers designated hitter Cam Bufford. Patrick Roche fumbled the potential inning-ending putout, allowing Moore to score the go-ahead run on the error for a 2-1 advantage into the ninth.

The two runs allowed in the eighth were the first issued by a Coast pitcher over the past 27.2 innings, causing Long Beach to fall into a deficit for the first time since Saturday night.

Ballers reliever Langston Burkett shut the door across the final five defensive outs for Oakland, giving him his second save of the season and his team their first win of the second half.

The 2-1 Coast loss ended their second-longest win streak of the season at 11. The Ballers’ fourth win over the Coast ended a nine-game win streak the Southern California franchise held over the reigning PBL champions. The Coast also concluded an eight-game win streak at Blair Field, their longest of the season.

Kozasky (1-1) took his first professional loss, while Ballers middle reliever Valek Cisneros (5-0) earned his fifth win after leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The rubber match for the third series of the second half will take place on Thursday night at Blair Field. The Coast will pay homage to the former Long Beach baseball programs of the past, with first pitch set for 6:35 PM PDT. The Beach Ball Pregame Show will begin at 6:15 PM on HomeTeam Network and Long Beach Coast on YouTube.

Joey Miller