Tag: pittsburgh-pirates

Sunsets, salsa, and spaceships and baseball, Power beat Pirates in Palm Springs

Max Suckley

Hot, hot, hot. The red-hot, undefeated Palm Springs Power hosted the struggling, yet talented, Inland Valley Pirates at the arid Palm Springs Stadium.

The journey from the Inland Valley is far, but the gameday environment in Palm Springs is unparalleled in Southern California’s collegiate summer league scene. 

A combination of misters and wind greeted the hundreds of fans in attendance to cool them down in the 100-degree heat. 

A mix of classic Mexican music, rhythmic salsa, and world-renowned reggaeton serenaded the crowd in honor of Hispanic Heritage Night. 

The beautiful view of the palm tree-scattered cityscape with the backdrop of barren desert mountains illuminated by the day’s last light falling beneath the jagged peaks of Mt. San Jacinto is a magnificent setting to take in a baseball game.

The combination of all of this makes Palm Springs Power games a unique experience and undoubtedly one of the more fun ways to take in a baseball game in the region during the summer. 

The gameday experience became even more fun for the visiting Pirates as they dominated offensively in the first inning. Despite the difficulties of hitting against seven-foot-tall pitcher Brenton Thiels, Inland Valley manufactured three runs because of timely hitting from Landon Greenhouse and Connor Green.

After two quick outs in the bottom of the first, it appeared that the Pirates would be able to establish momentum, but the Power were able to start an improbable two-out rally. 

After loading the bases, Palm Springs was able to drive in two runs on a single to left field. The Power could have tied the game, but catcher Max Shor ingeniously threw the trailing runner of a double steal out at second to end the inning and maintain the Inland Valley lead. 

After the rough first, Thiels settled in, and even with some traffic, he was able to shut out the Pirates over the next three innings. 

It was the opposite story for Inland Valley. Pirates’ pitching was never able to settle in allowing Palm Springs to log three consecutive three-run innings. This streak only ended in the fourth when they scored three to extend their lead to 9-3. 

In the top of the fifth with a runner on first, the attention of those in the stands and dugouts was inadvertently directed toward the sky. High in the sky over Mt. San Jacinto appeared a giant smoke trail led by a spaceship lighting up the night sky. 

Could the spaceship be a sign? A harbinger of an incoming Pirates comeback? Or maybe it was just an outgoing vessel venturing into the cosmos in search of things we do not understand. 

Regardless of the potential symbolism, Inland Valley scored the runner from first, cutting the deficit to 9-4 with four innings left. 

On defense, the Pirates finally put up their first scoreless frame. From the fifth inning on, Inland Valley did not surrender another run and only allowed two baserunners.

With pitching finally settling down, the Pirates had a chance to mount a comeback. In the sixth, Inland Valley was able to load the bases with two outs but only scored one before Andrew Pinedo came in to end the inning. 

Pinedo halted the Pirates’ momentum and closed out the last 3.1 innings to hand the Power a 9-5 win. 

Palm Springs is now 7-0 in the CPCL and has won a ridiculous 32 games in a row. 

Inland Valley has been competitive but is still looking for its second win of the year. The Pirates will certainly have a lot of chances to get back on track this week with games on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. 

Wednesday’s game will be at Bonita High School at 4 PM, while the rest will be played at Cal Poly Pomona’s Scolinos Field.

All American helps Legends dominate Bucs

Max Suckley

It was an ugly, overcast Monday, but Scolinos Field looked as beautiful as ever for a CPCL matchup between the Bucs and the Legends. 

The Bucs came in looking for their first CPCL win, while the Legends vied for their third. 

The seemingly normal early-season game, gifted the fans in attendance a look at one of college baseball’s premier talents as the Legends took the field.

Starting on the mound for the Legends was UCSD’s Izaak Martinez. In Martinez’s senior year with the Tritons, he held a 1.85 ERA and was named an All-American by the NCWBA and Perfect Game. 

Martinez, a crafty lefty, splintered the bat of the Bucs’ leadoff hitter en route to a quick perfect inning. In the second, Martinez walked a batter but helped himself out by catching a comebacker and turning around to throw the runner out at first for an inning-ending double play. 

Martinez finally allowed a hit with two outs in the third, but he locked in and struck out the next batter in three pitches. The All-American finished his outing with three scoreless innings, allowing only two base runners. 

Martinez’s pitching prowess gave confidence to the Legends and helped establish a high standard for the rest of the game. 

“Honestly, when you have a guy who’s known to shut hitters down like that, it makes you feel good, and he really set the tone for what we wanted to do today,” said Legends head coach Matt Cordero. “It continued not just through Izaak but also to Isaac Mendez”.

APU’s Isaac Mendez took over in the fourth and was even more impressive, quickly throwing three scoreless innings and only allowing one base runner.

The Legends dominated the Bucs offense with six innings of stellar pitching combined with some very impressive defense around the diamond. The defense has made tremendous strides since the start of the season, which has helped piece things together for the Legends. 

“There’s been a big improvement in our defense over the last week and a half or so. We started rough against Palm Springs, but since then we’ve steadily improved,” Cordero said. 

The incredible pitching and defense were combined with a strong offensive performance. 

In the bottom of the first, Moonhyeon Eom attempted to lay a sac bunt down, but he was unsuccessful as the pitcher threw a fastball up-and-in that barely missed his face. Two pitches later, Eom clobbered a two-run home run over the left wall. 

The Legends added another run in the second to extend their lead to 3-0. They would blow the game wide open in the fifth by scoring four more runs by taking advantage of defensive mistakes, which elongated the inning. Eom drove in the first of the four runs for his third RBI of the game. 

Moon Eom drove in another run in the seventh inning for his fourth of the day and the final of the Legends’ eight runs. Moon has consistently performed for the Legends this summer, making him one of the most valuable players in the lineup. 

“Moon has been huge all summer… He’s been consistent in the outfield and also in the lineup, he’s bat anywhere from the two to the five slot, but he’s been productive wherever we need him, so I’m happy with the output,” said Cordero.

The Bucs finally got on the board in the seventh inning with an RBI triple off the top of the left-field wall for Jarren Sanderson. During the next at-bat, Sanderson attempted to steal home, causing the pitcher to balk. 

In the ninth, the Bucs scrounged a third run on a solo home run from UCLA’s Jarrod Hocking. 

With an 8-3 win, the Legends grabbed their third victory and solidified their hold of second place in the CPCL. 

The Legends are in action again tomorrow, this time for a doubleheader in Escondido against the San Diego Waves. The Bucs also have a game tomorrow, matching up against the Colton Nighthawks at Fullerton College.

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.