Pirates Comeback and Defeat San Diego

The Inland Valley Pirates (10-9-1, 4-8) battled back from a 3-0 deficit to claim a 5-4 victory against Team San Diego (7-17, 3-13) in game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader at Cal Poly Pomona.

Much like yesterday’s contest, the Pirates fell behind early as Team San Diego plated two runs in the first inning to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.

Team San Diego scored another run in the second to push their lead to 3-0.

The Pirates offense was held silent until the fourth inning when Nick Costello recorded the Pirates first hit of the game on a single to right. He later came around to score the Pirates first run on a wild pitch.

The Pirates scratched across another run in the inning on an RBI groundout by Jonny Reynoso, which cut the lead to 3-2.

The score remained 3-2 until the sixth when Team San Diego pushed across another run to extend their lead to 4-2.

However, the Pirates would answer in the bottom half of the sixth.

An RBI double off the bat of Jeff Nellis made it a 4-3 ballgame. Nellis came around to score the tying run on an error by the second baseman.

The game remained deadlocked at four until the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on second and two men out, Nick Marshall hit a sharp ground ball that scooted right between the third baseman’s legs and allowed the runner, Nick Hernandez to score the go-ahead run.

The Pirates carried that 5-4 lead into the ninth when Team San Diego put runners on first and second with two outs.

On a 1-0 pitch, San Diego pinch hitter, Clayton Peterson drilled a sharp single into right. However, right fielder, Jacob Bernardy fielded the ball and made a strong throw to the plate to nail the potential tying run, thus securing the win for the Pirates.

Nicholas Sergi allowed just one run in seven strong innings in relief to pick up the victory, his third of the season.

Jeff Nellis had a solid day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a run scored, a run batted in and a stolen base.

Batting AB R H RBI BB K
Jonny Reynoso 3 0 0 1 0 0
Nolan Henley 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jacob Bernardy 3 0 0 0 1 0
Jason Padlo 4 0 2 0 0 0
Tyler Urbach 2 1 0 0 1 0
Nick Marshall 3 1 1 0 0 1
Jeff Nellis 4 1 2 1 0 0
Justin Gomez 1 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Hernandez 3 1 0 0 1 0
Drew Seelman 3 0 0 0 1 0
Nick Costello 4 1 1 0 0 1
Totals 31 5 6 2 4 2

Batting2B: Jason Padlo, Jeff Nellis
TB: Jason Padlo 3, Nick Marshall, Jeff Nellis 3, Nick Costello
RBI: Jonny Reynoso, Jeff Nellis
ROE: Nick Marshall, Drew Seelman
FC: Jacob Bernardy, Nick Hernandez
HBP: Nick Marshall, Jeff Nellis
SB: Jeff Nellis 2, Nick Hernandez
CS: Drew Seelman

Pitching IP #P TB H R ER BB K HR S%
Dylan Stablein 2.0 0 0 2 3 2 1 0 0
Nicholas Sergi 7.0 0 0 5 1 1 2 2 0
Totals 9.0 0 0 7 4 3 3 2 0

PitchingW: Nicholas Sergi

Pirates Give Dodgers the Blues

A stellar pitching performance nets the Pirates a 4-1 victory against the East Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

The Pirates’ pitching staff allowed just one unearned run on the evening as the offense slammed nine hits en route to the victory.

The Pirates didn’t waste any time getting on the board as in the first inning, catcher Justin Gomez hammered a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run, thus giving the Pirates an early 2-0 lead.

The very next inning, the Pirates would tack on two more runs on RBI singles by Chaneng Varela and Kyle Jackson.

The Dodgers would rally for a run in the fifth inning, but Pirates starter, Nicholas Sergi would work his way out of the jam and keep the score at 4-1.

From there, manager, Charlie Reynoso, turned to bullpen to shut the door.

Reliever, Dylan Stablein, pitched three shutout innings of relief before turning it over closer, Andrew Eppenbach in the ninth.

In the inning, the Dodgers attempted to mount a comeback, putting runners on second and third with just one out. However, Eppenbach would strikeout the next two batters and nail down the save on the Pirates 4-1 victory.

Justin Gomez provided the crucial offensive blow with his two-run shot in the first.

Shortstop Chaneng Varela also had a good day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and a run batted in, as well as reaching base in all five of his plate appearances.

Nicholas Sergi went a very strong five innings, giving up just the one run on four hits and earned himself the victory.

“I just wanted to put the ball in play,” said Sergi. “I know I have a good defense behind me.”

The win moves the Pirates to 8-4-1 on the season.

The Pirates next contest will be this Saturday the 20th at Scolinos Field against the San Diego Force.

Batting AB R H RBI BB K
Kyle Jackson 5 0 2 1 0 0
Jonny Reynoso 5 0 0 0 0 0
Nolan Henley 4 0 1 0 0 0
Chaneng Varela 4 1 3 1 0 0
Tyler Urbach 4 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Deceglie 3 1 0 0 1 1
Jeff Nellis 3 1 1 0 1 1
Justin Gomez 4 1 1 2 1 0
Troy Resch 3 0 1 0 0 1
Andrew Eppenbach 1 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 36 4 9 4 3 4

BattingHR: Justin Gomez
TB: Kyle Jackson 2, Nolan Henley, Chaneng Varela 3, Jeff Nellis, Justin Gomez 4, Troy Resch
RBI: Kyle Jackson, Chaneng Varela, Justin Gomez 2
SB: Kyle Jackson, Nolan Henley
CS: Jeff Nellis

Pitching IP #P TB H R ER BB K HR S%
Andrew Eppenbach 1.0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 .000
Dylan Stablein 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 .000
Nicholas Sergi 5.0 0 0 4 1 0 1 4 0 .000
Totals 9.0 0 0 5 1 0 3 9 0

PitchingW: Nicholas Sergi
SV: Andrew Eppenbach

Pirates 2015 Season Preview

The Pirates return 14 players from their SCCBL 2015 regular season co-championship team.

Andrew Alavarez pre game
Andrew Alvarez

Former SCCBL all-stars Andrew Alvarez, Kyle Jackson, Jonny Reynoso, Anthony Virgen and Nathan Virgen are all back to help the club improve to the next level after last season’s successful 26-8 finish.

Alvarez posted gaudy numbers, while dominating the competition in 2014. The Houston Baptist senior-to-be earned Pitcher of the Month honors in June, while finishing 5-0 with a 2.42 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 44.2 innings. He did damage with the bat as well, finishing with a .341 batting average and leading the team with 31 hits for the season. Continue reading “Pirates 2015 Season Preview”