Tag: inland valley pirates

Power defeat Wave to win 2024 CPCL Championship

Max Suckley

On a scorching summer day in the Inland Valley, the Palm Springs Power capped off their dominant 2024 campaign by toppling the San Diego Wave to win the 2024 CPCL Championship. 

The Wave finished their regular season with a strong win over the Legends qualifying them for the second spot in the championship series. 

The Power finished the regular season by suffering their first loss in 51 games at the hands of the Bucs. 

For game one of the best-of-three series, San Diego made the long trek to Palm Springs. 

The Power started well, grabbing an early lead on an RBI single from Aiden Taurek.

Things quickly got out of hand in Palm Springs during the second inning when the Wave brought two runs home. San Diego could not be shut down and they rallied for another two runs in the third to make the score 4-1. 

The Wave were unrelenting, once again scoring two runs in the fifth and throwing their fourth consecutive scoreless inning. 

The Power finally scored another run in the sixth after surrendering six unanswered runs. 

San Diego added an insurance run in the seventh to increase their lead to 7-2. Palm Springs battled back, scoring one run in the bottom of the seventh and another two in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.

With their backs against the wall, the Power now had to leave their home territory and travel to Azusa with elimination staring them down. 

The Wave had two chances to win the CPCL championship at the neutral site Azusa Pacific University.

The Power once again scored in the first, but just like the night before, they relinquished their early momentum by allowing San Diego to score two runs in the second. 

After a bit of a pitchers’ duel, Palm Springs leveled the score in the top of the sixth. The Wave were not complacent with the draw and added two more runs to give themselves a commanding 4-2 lead with only nine outs left to get. 

San Diego shut down the Power in the seventh and eighth, holding on to their two-run lead. With only three outs left to get and momentum on their side, it looked like the Wave were surely going to take the CPCL title. 

Palm Springs was not ready to give up yet. The Power put two runners on with no outs to bring the winning run up to the plate. A single brought the score within one, then Taurek hit a ground ball through the left side to bring the tying run in. With two outs and the score now tied, Angel Cortez also hit a single past the shortstop to give Palm Springs the lead. 

The Power held on to the lead, forcing a third game later in the evening. 

Game three was the first game in which Palm Springs did not have to play from a deficit. A big three-run inning in the third gave the Power offensive momentum, which they used to add one more run in the fourth and fifth. Palm Springs’ offense was highlighted by solo home runs from Fred Buckson and Cody Kashimoto. 

Palm Springs’ pitching looked the best it had all series, with starting pitcher Bear Pinedo going five scoreless. 

San Diego finally got on the board in the sixth because of a two-run home run from Elijah Cook, cutting the Power lead down to three.

Palm Springs added an insurance run in the seventh to make the score 6-2. 

The insurance run was well-needed as the Wave sparked a rally to add another two runs in the eighth. Now down 6-4 with only three outs left, San Diego needed clutch at-bats, and they found them. 

Two sacrifice flies in the ninth brought in the two runs the Wave needed to tie the game. 

In the bottom of the ninth, the Power put a runner on for the middle of their lineup to drive in. The University of Antelope Valley’s Noah Blythe came up to the plate with the opportunity to drive the runner in and win the game for Palm Springs.

Blythe took advantage of this opportunity by crushing a ball far over the left-field fence to walk it off and win the 2024 CPCL championship for the Palm Springs Power. 

Blythe was the clear MVP of the game, driving in five of the Power’s eight runs. 

The Power are now back-to-back CPCL champions. Having only lost three games in the past two years, Palm Springs looks to be the favorite going into the 2025 season.

Waves beat Legends to clinch playoff berth

Max Suckley

The most consequential CPCL game of the year took place on Wednesday at Scolinos Field in a winner-take-all matchup between the Inland Valley Legends and the San Diego Waves. 

Both teams had their aces on the mound, with the Legends starting Gavin Reeve and the Wave starting Peter Knorr. 

San Diego came ready to play, scoring two runs in the first inning behind four singles and a double. 

The Wave matched their first-inning success in the next frame, scoring another two due to a rough defensive error from Inland Valley. 

On offense, the Legends couldn’t get anything going. Despite boasting one of the more impressive lineups in the CPCL, Inland Valley struggled to figure out Knorr. 

The Legends did have a chance in the first inning after getting two runners on with no outs, but they ran into an out at home after a passed ball bounced straight off the backstop back to the catcher. There was still a runner in scoring position, but the next two batters struck out. 

After the first inning, Knorr made quick work of Inland Valley and faced the minimum five times in his next six innings. 

The Wave defense was excellent, turning two textbook double plays behind their starting pitcher. The infielders were very active as Knorr only struck out three batters out of the 21 outs he made. 

Knorr’s final line was seven scoreless innings with two hits and one walk. Knorr lowered his season ERA to a team-best 1.45 and got his WHIP down to an incredible 0.78. 

After the first two innings, Inland Valley’s pitching and defense settled in and put up five consecutive scoreless frames. The Legends turnaround kept Inland in the game, but the offense still needed to wake up.

San Diego added a fifth unanswered run in the eighth as insurance. Inland Valley finally responded with a rally, but they were only able to get one run before stranding runners on second and third. 

After their squandered comeback attempt, it became clear that the Wave would go on to win and clinch a berth in the CPCL playoff. 

The Legends finish the CPCL regular season in third place, a great improvement after coming in last place in 2023. The Legends are followed by the Bucs in fourth and the Pirates in fifth. 

San Diego will take on Palm Springs, who lost their first game of the year late on Wednesday night against the Bucs. 

The Wave and the Power will play game one on Saturday in Palm Springs at 7 PM.

Rios comes up clutch twice for the Pirates

Max Suckley

The Inland Valley’s Pirates and Legends met on a beautiful summer day at Cal Poly Pomona’s Scolinos Field for their last matchup of the year. 

Tuesday’s game was the last league contest for the Pirates, while the Legends have one more on Wednesday before potentially qualifying to meet the Power in the playoffs. 

The Legends have played well against the Pirates throughout the season, but the last time they played, the Pirates flipped the script and beat the Legends 10-0.

This matchup was the best of the year with multiple late score changes. It looked like the Legends had bested their CPCL rivals once again until the Pirates came up with a clutch hit in the ninth to seal the victory. 

Costly errors at the start of the game allowed the Legends to cash in an unearned run in the first.

The Legends had a strong rally in the third behind a hard-hit RBI single from Moon Eom and a double from Sean Boscovich.

The Legends held their commanding lead until the fourth inning when the Pirates were finally able to make some noise. 

A leadoff walk and error allowed Cole Koniarsky to advance to third. Anthony Vasquez then hit a fly ball to center field, prompting Coniarksy to tag up. The throw beat Coniarsky by 10 feet, but he dodged the catcher’s tag to give the Pirates their first run.

Later in the inning, with two outs, Brett Bowers hit an RBI single to center to cut the Legends’ lead to 3-2. 

The Pirates began the sixth inning with singles from Coniarsky and Aidan Haller, who subsequently advanced to second and third on a fielder’s choice. With runners in scoring position, Sonny Rios hit a ground ball to the right side, allowing Coniarsky to score and tie up the ball game. 

On the mound, the Pirates’ pitching leaned on the team’s momentum and put up four consecutive scoreless frames. 

The Legends finally looked dangerous again in the top of the eighth after David Hays hit a leadoff double down the left field line. 

It looked like the Pirates were going to get out of the jam until Doug Allen hit a single to right with two outs to give the Legends the late lead. 

The Pirates battled back immediately in the bottom of the inning, with Adrian Diaz smoking a leadoff single to set the tone. Coniarsky got involved again, hitting another single to advance Diaz into scoring position. 

The Legends made two quick outs but allowed the runners to advance to second and third. The Pirates needed someone to come up clutch, and Sonny Rios answered the call again, this time hitting a single up the middle to drive in two runs and give the Pirates the lead heading into the ninth. 

Anthony Vasquez made three quick outs to give the Pirates a 5-4 win over the Legends. 

Vasquez pitched four innings in relief, allowing only one run and earning the win. 

Rios drove in three of the Pirates’ five runs and Coniarsky had three of the team’s eight hits.  

The Pirates 2024 CPCL schedule is now complete, but the team will have a few more non-league exhibitions this weekend. The Legends will play a winner-take-all game against the San Diego Wave, with the winner earning a spot in the CPCL playoff.

Chavez dominates Wave, Walz hits grand slam

Max Suckley

The dry summer heat of the Inland Valley was replaced with an uncommon layer of humidity on Saturday. On this uncharacteristic summer day, the Inland Valley Pirates hosted a doubleheader against the San Diego Wave at Azusa Pacific University. 

The Wave took two of the first three games in the series earlier in the week in Escondido, but the Pirates had the opportunity to take the series if they won both games on Saturday. 

Inland Valley quickly evened up the series with a quick, clean, 3-0 victory. 

Starting pitcher Alex Chavez led the way, pitching six no-hit innings. Chavez has been the Pirates’ best pitcher this season and today was his best outing. 

Chavez would have been perfect through six innings, but the Inland Valley defense made three errors behind him. Even with shaky defense early, Chavez mowed through Wave hitters, striking out eight. 

Chavez did not surrender a baserunner of his own until the top of the seventh inning when he mercifully gave San Diego a leadoff walk. With his pitch count rising, Chavez was taken out of the game and replaced by lefty Chris Gonzales. 

Gonzales picked up right where Chavez left off, pitching three scoreless innings, only allowing one baserunner, and striking out three. 

On offense, Inland Valley got started early with a strong three-run first inning.

The Pirates loaded the bases before the Wave could even get an out. After scoring one run on a passed ball, Evan Evitia came up and walloped a double to left field to score the other baserunners. 

After the exciting first inning, Inland Valley’s hitters were shut out. The lineup found a few more hits and drew another walk, but they could not get anything going. 

The excellent pitching from the second inning on, allowed the game to breeze by in an hour and 58 minutes — the second sub-two-hour contest of the Pirates season.

The rubber match 45 minutes later would be much longer and include much more action.

In the first, the Wave quickly scored their first run of the day and then poured another three on. Despite the rough patch, Inland Valley pitching returned to its previous form, blanking the Wave over the next three innings. 

The Pirates got one run back a couple innings later from a Garrett Patterson RBI to bring the score to 4-1. 

Inland Valley finally bent in the fifth and gave up three runs in a strenuous inning, putting San Diego up six. 

The Pirates refused to give up though and they loaded the bases for leadoff hitter and star shortstop Isaiah Walz. 

In his best moment of the season, the incredible Walz blasted a grand slam through the left field netting and off an APU administrative building. 

After Walz’s heroics, there was an aura of confidence in the Inland Valley dugout that a comeback was more than possible. 

On defense though, the Pirates gave up another run. Out of the eight runs given up, only three of them were earned due to six errors in the field. 

In the last inning, Walz got on again and Patterson subsequently hit a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Walz advanced to third on a line drive to right, then scored on a fielder’s choice. 

Unfortunately for the Inland Valley, the Wave combatted the late comeback and held on for an 8-6 win sealing their series victory. 

All six of the Pirates’ runs were earned. 

The Pirates have one more league game on Tuesday against the Legends at 4 PM at Cal Poly Pomona’s Scolinos Field.

Pirates split doubleheader with Waves

Max Suckley

The Pirates left the Inland Valley for the second time in a week to kick off their first two contests of their five-game series against the San Diego Waves. 

The Wave hosted the doubleheader in Escondido, where they play at Escondido High School.

The field is the smallest in the CPCL by a wide margin, and in game one it helped the Pirates to a 4-2 win. 

Inland Valley had to fight back from a deficit early in the game due to a controversial missed call from the field umpire who had his back turned when a San Diego hitter missed first base on a triple. 

If the umpire had followed the play like he was supposed to, the runner would have been called out, and the Wave would have been held scoreless in the first. 

San Diego took advantage of an error and a lead-off double in the third to add another run. 

If not for an error and an umpiring blunder, Pirate starter Alex Chavez could have had a scoreless outing and potentially pitched longer. Even with the misfortune, Chavez was excellent, pitching five innings and only allowing one earned run. 

Anthony Vasquez took over for Chavez and continued the momentum by striking out three batters in two scoreless innings. 

On the other side, Inland Valley was able to start chipping away at the Wave lead. A single from Chad Green got one run back in the fifth. 

In the sixth Cole Coniarsky, hit a deep fly ball to center giving Connor Green enough time to score from third and knot the score at two. 

The Pirates’ steady momentum continued into the seventh inning when Evan Evitia smoked a line-drive home run to center field to take the lead. 

Connor Green ambushed San Diego in the eighth, crushing a lead-off home run to dead center to give Inland Valley some breathing room. 

With six outs left to get, the Pirates called in flamethrower Chad Green. 

Green was impressive, only allowing two baserunners in a scoreless two-inning save. 

Game two was an uphill battle for the Pirates as they struggled to piece enough pitching together. 

The offense helped the pitching out by scoring a run on a first-inning RBI from Diego Orozco.

Unfortunately for Inland Valley, San Diego responded with a run of their own in the first, which was unearned due to another Pirate error.

Garrett Patterson made a lot of hard contact again and finally put a ball into the gap for a leadoff double in the third, though he was not driven in.

The Wave lineup finally broke out in the third inning, scoring two runs, though one was unearned. San Diego continued its success into the fourth, scoring three more runs to make the score 6-1. 

Orozco added a second RBI with two outs in the fifth, but the Pirates were not able to cash in any more runs.

Patterson threw two clean innings to stop the bleeding, but Inland Valley was not able to get the offense rolling as it did in game one and they fell 6-2.  

After splitting the doubleheader in Escondido, the two teams met up again Tuesday in what would be a 20-2 mauling by San Diego.

The Pirates and Wave will face off again Saturday for another doubleheader, this time in the Inland Valley at Azusa Pacific. 

Though the Pirates are coming off a demoralizing loss, they still have the chance to win the series against San Diego if they can take both games on Saturday. 

Game one is scheduled for 1 PM, and game two will be at 4 PM. 

Bucs take dramatic win over Pirates

Max Suckley

After an 0-2 away series in Palm Springs, the Pirates returned home to Scolinos Field at Cal Poly Pomona to battle the Bucs. 

The struggling Pirates were still looking for their second win of the season, but they wouldn’t find it today. The games were the Pirates’s most impressive in weeks, but they still fell short, losing 3-2. 

The Pirates have not been able to put up nine innings of quality pitching in a row in most of their games this year. Today they did. 

Wyatt Johnson started the game, throwing three scoreless innings to set the tone. 

Evan Evita hit a double to center field to score one in the third and give the Pirates a lead. The Bucs responded with a two-run rally in the top of the fourth. 

The Pirates were not able to respond immediately, but they did find another run in the fifth to level the score. 

On the mound, Anthony Vasquez showcased his mastery once again. Vasquez has been the Pirates’ best pitcher thus far, and he added three no-hit innings in this outing. 

Chad Green held the tie before being replaced by Garrett Patterson, who was tasked with pitching the final two innings with the hope of earning a save or win. 

On the other side, the Bucs rode the arm of Moises Escobedo. Escobedo came in after the Bucs gave up the run in the fifth and he was fantastic. 

The Bucs offense finally broke the deadlock on an RBI single up the middle from Jarrod Hocking.

After three scoreless frames, it looked like Escobedo would finally forfeit a run to the Pirates in the bottom of the ninth inning after Patterson hit a hard leadoff single.

Patterson subsequently stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position and giving the Pirates hope that they could turn their fortune around. 

Michael Rodda appeared to have tied the game as he smoked a ground ball up the middle, but the ball was shockingly stopped by Escobedo, who spun around and caught the ball behind his back without ever seeing it. 

Patterson was caught between second and third, and Escobedo promptly threw him out, diminishing the Pirates’ momentum and hopes. 

For Patterson, the moment was on a long list of frustrating moments from the day. Patterson barreled up the ball twice early in the game, but both would-be doubles were hit straight to outfielders. 

Patterson has consistently hit the ball hard over the past few weeks, but he always seems to hit it straight to outfielders. While not seeing the rewards statistically, Patterson recognizes that it is part of the game and knows he will reap the benefits eventually. 

“At first, it’s very frustrating because I want to help the team by getting on base and moving runners over or driving them in,” said Patterson. “Those balls that I’m hitting are gap-to-gap, but they keep getting caught so it’s frustrating, but in the future, those balls are going to land, and once they do, the floodgates will be open.”

The Pirates have not always played the best, but they have certainly played better than their record reflects. While there have been definite struggles, it also feels that fortune has not favored the Pirates, which is best exemplified by Escobedo’s play in the ninth. 

“Baseball is baseball, plays like that happen, but I have to keep pushing because it’s a new day tomorrow,” Patterson said. “We might not have won this one, but we have to keep pushing. We hung with the Power the night before and we hung with the Bucs today. We can compete, we just need a little bit of luck, because we’ve been unfortunate lately.”

Nolan Smith wins 2024 Sunset League Home Run Derby

Max Suckley

The sounds of bats cracking could be heard all the way from the In-N-Out across from the Cougar Baseball Complex at Azusa Pacific University, where the Sunset Baseball League held its 2024 home run derby prior to its all-star game. 

All six Sunset League teams picked one player to represent them in the contest. 

In the first round, all six hitters would take 10 swings, with the top hitter advancing to the finals and the next two best hitters moving into a five-swing playoff. 

Jake Daily, Nolan Smith, and Danny Rodriguez all swatted three home runs, creating a first-place tie. Since Rodriguez was the top seed, he moved on to the final, while Daily and Smith had five swings to barrel their way to the final.  

Daily, a right-handed hitter smoked hard line drives high up into the left field net. Smith, another right-handed hitter, demolished baseballs high over the left field net with some shots measuring around 400 feet. 

Rodriguez, the only left-handed hitter, crushed balls way above the short porch in right, with many of his balls landing in the In-N-Out parking lot. 

As the lower-seeded hitter, Smith went first in the final round. Exhaustion from taking so many swings with limited breaks along with the heat made it very hard for Smith to find the energy to replicate his power surges from the previous rounds, and he only hit one home run. 

“I felt pretty good, I got to take some pretty good swings early on in the beginning, but I got pretty worn out in the championship round,” Smith said. 

Rodriguez came to the plate only having to hit two home runs to win, but the rest of the time had an adverse effect on him, and he struggled mightily. 

Through nine swings he only had one home run and on the last swing, he struck off the top of the fence, meaning the contest would go to a five-swing overtime to determine the winner. 

Smith again went first, but this time he was well rested. With the much-needed rest, Smith knew he was capable of sealing the victory. 

“I was able to sit for a second, collect myself, and get my swing back together and I definitely felt like I could put some really good swings on” once I got my time to relax,” Smith said with a smile. 

In the overtime round, Smith sent two moonshots to the top of the left-field net to give himself a comfortable lead. 

Rodriguez could not regain his early momentum and failed to hit a single home run in the final round, making Nolan Smith the 2024 Sunset League Home Run Derby champion.

Smith’s performance impressed a lot of people including his all star coach.

“Nolan was really impressive. I did not see that coming from him and he definitely convinced everyone that he has a ton of pop,” said all star head coach Dylan Hoffman.

Double plays and double headers, Legends beat Pirates, lose heartbreaker to Bucs

Max Suckley

On one of the hottest days of the year, the Inland Valley Legends hosted a doubleheader against CPCL opponents Pirates and Bucs at Azusa Pacific University. 

The Legends and Bucs both got off to slow starts, but have picked up momentum recently. The Pirates won their first game, but have struggled mightily ever since, losing their last eight games. 

All three teams are talented and can beat each other any day, but the Pirates have drawn the short end of the stick over the past two weeks. 

Game one started between the Legends and Pirates at 1 PM. 

The Legends wasted no time getting their offense going, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first off of five hits, a walk, and a sacrifice fly. The Legends were positioned to score even more until the Pirates rolled a badly needed double play. 

The Pirates responded in the next frame, scoring one and creating some momentum of their own. 

The Legends scored another run in the third, but they had the opportunity to score two until shortstop Isaiah Walz made an incredible throw from the outfield grass to cut a runner down at home. 

The Pirates loaded the bases in the fifth and looked poised to do some serious damage to the Legends’ lead. A hit batter allowed the Pirates to score one, but the next batter hit an unlucky line drive straight to the right fielder to end the promising rally.  

Down by three in the seventh inning, the Pirates badly needed another rally to hopefully take the lead late. 

Three consecutive singles to start the inning gave the Pirates the start they needed, but Legends’ pitching was able to limit the damage to two runs.

With their lead down to one run, the Legends needed to respond with some insurance runs. In the bottom of the seventh and eighth the Legends would add another five runs to bolster their lead to 10-4. 

The highlight of the Legends’ late success at the plate was a solo home run from Nathan Hellein. The biggest contributor to the Legends’ offense was Will Medina who got three hits, scored two runs, and drove three runs in. 

The Pirates were able to load the bases in the eighth, but Legends’ pitching came up clutch and ended the threat without surrendering a run. The Pirates had ducks on the pond again in the ninth, but the Legends were able to turn another double play, this time to end the game. 

Game two saw the Legends remain while the Pirates exchanged places with the Bucs. 

The Legends opened the scoring in the top of the third with one run from a Jackson Licata home run. The Bucs matched by scoring a run in the bottom of the inning on a sac fly. 

In the fourth, Will Medina continued his stellar day by mashing a solo home run to left field. 

The Legends could not hold their lead for long, and the Bucs went on to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth to establish a 4-2 lead. 

The Legends looked as dangerous as ever when they loaded the bases in the sixth. Unfortunately for the Legends, they were not able to capitalize on the opportunity and only drove one run in from a Medina sac fly — his fifth RBI of the day. 

Legends’ pitching was not able to slow the Bucs’ momentum, and they once again responded in the bottom of the inning by scoring another run to maintain their two-run lead. 

Medina came through once again in the eighth with an RBI single to bring the score within one. The Bucs came with a vengeance in the bottom of the inning and blew the game wide open, scoring five to extend their lead to 10-4. 

The situation looked bleak for the Legends in the ninth, but they never gave up. Down six runs, the Legends gave their best effort towards carrying out a seemingly impossible comeback. 

The Legends relentlessly battled back, scoring four runs with their backs against the wall. With two outs and the tying run at the plate, the Bucs were finally able to obtain the final out of the game, ending the Legends’ valiant comeback attempt. 

The Legends are now 5-6, the Bucs are 5-5-1, and the Pirates are 1-9.

The Pirates and the Bucs will meet up at Cal Poly Pomona’s Scolinos Field at 4 PM on Monday, and the Legends will be there on Tuesday to take on the Colton Nighthawks. 

Bucs hold off late comeback from Pirates

Max Suckley

It was an active day on Bonita High School’s practice field with dozens of students playing soccer, field hockey, and football. Just past this field, the CPCL’s Bucs and Pirates met to play a Wednesday game at Bonita’s baseball stadium. 

Both teams have gotten off to a slow start to their seasons and will need to turn things around quickly to qualify for the CPCL playoffs, which take place in just over a month. 

The first four innings of the game flew by. Pirates pitcher Noe Novella was excellent, allowing only three baserunners in his four-inning outing. 

Novella had a hiccup in the third, allowing the Bucs to score one, but it was largely because of bad luck as a ground ball hit the lip of the infield causing the routine out to bounce high over the shortstop’s head. 

Pirates pitching got into trouble early in the fifth, giving up three runs due to a myriad of walks, hit batters, and passed balls until Evan Evita came in to clean things up. Evita cooled off the Bucs’ momentum by throwing 2.2 scoreless innings. 

After being shut out through five, the Pirates finally got on the board with a two-RBI line drive home run to left from shortstop Isaiah Walz. The home run was the first for Walz and the first for the Pirates this summer. 

The Pirates were able to get a lot of traffic during the seventh but were unable to cash anything in after some untimely baserunning mistakes and failure to execute at the plate.  

The Bucs added two insurance runs in the eighth inning to extend their lead to 6-2 heading into the ninth. The Pirates’ defense has been good throughout the summer, but an error early in the inning gave the Bucs extra life and caused both runs to be scored as unearned. 

Despite the four-run deficit, the Pirates showed a lot of fight in the ninth. A full-count walk and a hard single into left field gave some hope for a Pirates comeback. 

With two runners on and the tying runner on deck, Steven Mara made a massive dent in the Bucs’ lead by mauling a three-run home run far past the left-field fence. 

The blast was not only Mara’s first home run this season but also his first hit this season. The slow start was tough to deal with for Mara since he has not had many live at-bats in the past few months due to injury. 

Finally getting a hit, and it being a clutch home run was a great moment and a great relief for Mara. 

“It felt like a bit of a relief,” said Mara. “[It was a} weight lifted off my shoulders and gives me something to work off of for upcoming at-bats.” 

The Pirates were able to get the tying run on first with two outs, but catcher Alex Cummings cut the runner down trying to steal second, ending the game with a final score of 6-5. 

The Pirates are now 1-6 on the year, while the Bucs improved to 3-5-1. 

The Pirates will play again on Thursday, this time against the Legends at Cal Poly Pomona’s Scolinos Field. The Bucs will have the day off before also going to Scolinos Field to match up with the Pirates for the second time this week. 

Knuckleballs not enough for Pirates

Max Suckley

On Friday, Scolinos Field hosted a matchup between the Sunset League’s South Bay Saints and the CPCL’s Inland Valley Pirates. 

The Pirates have gotten off to a 1-3 start in the CPCL, while the Saints have gone 1-0 in the Sunset League. 

After a quiet first inning, Inland Valley’s Bret Bowers got on first base with one out in the second. With the threat of an inning-ending double play alive, Bowers stole second. The next batter, Sonny Rios, hit a double to score Bowers. 

After this, the game was serene for a while. Inland Valley’s Andrew Nesson held South Bay scoreless over four, allowing minimal traffic. 

It was the same story for the Saints pitchers outside of giving up a run in the second. With a heavy dose of offspeed pitches, South Bay pitching was able to keep Pirates hitters frustrated. 

Even in fastball counts, Saints pitchers kept throwing off-speed pitches inducing an array of swings and misses. When Inland Valley batters did make contact, it was usually soft, and the South Bay defense fielded it cleanly every time. 

In the 6th inning, the Pirates’ pitching faltered, walking four batters and allowing a hit, resulting in three runs for the Saints. It looked like Inland Valley would get out of the inning with only two runs given up, but misfortune found them.

With two outs and the bases loaded, South Bay hit a hard ground ball up the middle that deflected off the second base bag, allowing an extra run to score. The runner from second base tried to score, but the Pirates second baseman picked the ball up and nailed him at home to save a fourth run. 

In the eighth inning, the Saints’ barrels warmed up, leading the inning off with three consecutive singles. Defensive mishaps extended the inning and helped extend South Bay’s rally longer than it should have.

Inland Valley finally got out of the inning, but not before surrendering another three runs. 

Carson Mounce hit a late RBI single for the Pirates to give them a second run, but the team ultimately was never able to mount a comeback. 

The highlight of the day for Inland Valley was the top of the ninth when outfielder Gavin Garcia came in to pitch. Garcia shocked everyone when he started to throw knuckleballs during his warmup pitches.

It became even more shocking when he started throwing them during the game. Garcia was able to throw his knuckleball over the plate and even got a swing-and-miss.

To top this off, his catcher, Mounce, made an acrobatic diving catch in front of the dugout for the final out of the scoreless inning. 

Garcia’s pitching and Mounce’s defense finally brought some excitement back into the solemn dugout.

Inland Valley is now 1-4 on the season and 1-3 in the CPCL. The team has a lot of talent and has led in four of their five games, but they have not been able to piece everything together consistently.

The Pirates will have a chance to get their season back on track on Tuesday in Palm Springs against the undefeated Power.