Along the Pecos League Trail
by Bruce Baskin
August 13, 2023 - Pecos League (Pecos)
PARNOW BLANKS TUCSON, 2-0, AS SAN RAFAEL WINS PENNANT
SAN RAFAEL 2-7-0, Tucson 0-3-0 (San Rafael wins series, 2 games to 1)
San Rafael starting pitcher Eric Parnow scattered three hits and struck out 11 in a 2-0 shutout over visiting Tucson Saturday night to give the Pacifics their first Pecos League championship since joining the loop in 2020 after hoisting four pennants in the old Pacific Association. San Rafael completed a 2-games-to-1 victory over the four-time Pecos titlist Saguaros at home in Albert Park in a game that lasted just two hours and 32 minutes.
The Pacifics got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff batter Kyle Guerra stroked a first-pitch double off Tucson starter Jaymon Cervantes and came home two batters later on a Beau Dorman single. While that would be the only run Parnow needed for the win, San Rafael got one more in the bottom of the fourth after Nick Smith rapped a double and later tallied up on John Bicos' two-out single to make it a 2-0 game.
Parnow kept posting zeros the rest of the way en route to a 132-pitch complete game, ending the series and season by tossing a comebacker to the mound by JuJuan Franklin to Blake Diggle at first for the final out. The 6-foot lefty from nearby Petaluma allowed a single to Steve Joyner in the fourth, Gavy Perez-Torres in the eighth and Jordan Medina in the ninth while serving up five walks but no Cacti batsman advanced beyond second base in what ended up being the second whitewash in as many nights after Tucson had evened the series with a 2-0 win Friday.
Dorman got three of the Pacifics' seven hits as Cervantes, the Mountain Division Pitcher of the Year, labored in hard luck by allowing two runs on five hits over seven innings and 112 pitches to take the loss. While the Pecos League is deservedly known as a hitter's paradise, with teams averaging over 10 runs per games and 11 of 16 clubs batting over .300 during the regular season (Martinez just missed at .297), the title series was ultimately about pitching as the two teams combined for just 12 scores over three games.
The final edition of the Trail will be posted Monday featuring five OurSports Central Award (aka ¬ÅOscies ¬Â) winners for the 2023 Pecos League season.
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Pecos League Stories from August 13, 2023
- Along the Pecos League Trail - OSC Original by Bruce Baskin
- Along the Pecos League Trail - OSC Original by Bruce Baskin
- Along the Pecos League Trail - OSC Original by Bruce Baskin
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