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Outlaws Knock Off Fielders In Series Finale

June 27, 2011 - North American League (NAmL)
Lake County Fielders News Release


Chico, California (June 26, 2011) - For seven and a half innings, the game was going exactly how the Lake County Fielders (19-10) wanted it to go. However, the Chico Outlaws (11-18) surged back with a five-run bottom of the 8th inning, en route to defeating the Fielders, 7-5, on Sunday night.

Fielders starting pitcher Jino Gonzalez was perfect through his first time around facing the Chico battery. Gonzalez's strong start was rewarded as the Fielders offense began the top of the 4th inning. Argelis Nunez led off the inning with a line drive solo home run to left field, his seventh on the season, to give Lake County a 1-0 lead. The Fielders didn't stop there, as C.J. Ziegler homered as well. Ziegler's solo blast, which also went over the left field wall, was his 11th of the season, and it gave the Fielders a 2-0 lead. It was the first time that the Fielders had had back-to-back home runs.

After the barrage of roundtrippers, Matt Mansilla singled to continue the offensive output. Two batters later, Gonzalez stepped to the plate and hit a slow-rolling groundball on the right side of the infield. Chico first baseman Al Quintana fielded the ball and tossed to Chico pitcher Jason Mackintosh, but Gonzalez outran Mackintosh to first base, reaching on an infield single to drive home Mansilla. When the inning ended, Gonzalez had a 3-0 lead to protect.

However, Gonzalez ran into trouble in the bottom of the 4th inning. With one out in the inning, he hit Chico second baseman Bobby Hill with a pitch, allowing the first Outlaw hitter to reach base, and gave up his first hit, a bloop single to right field off the bat of right fielder Jake Rife. After a groundout moved both runners into scoring position, Quintana stepped to the plate and hit a single to center field, scoring both Hill and Rife to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Fielders got one run back in the top of the 5th inning. Lino Garcia hit a deep drive to left-center field, landing on the warning track and bouncing over the wall for a ground-rule double. Garcia later stole third base, and it proved to be huge coup for the Fielders. With two out, Ziegler singled to left field, allowing Garcia to trot on home, giving Lake County a 4-2 lead.

Gonzalez eased through the rest of his outing, exiting after six innings of work. The Fielders left-handed starter allowed two runs on two hits, striking out four and walking one before giving way to the bullpen. Nick Gaudi pitched a hitless bottom of the 7th inning, but when Ben Paxton entered the game to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning, the Chico Outlaws feasted on him.

Paxton struck out Chico pinch-hitter Kurt Steinhauer to lead off the inning, but Steinhauer was able to advance to first base on a dropped third strike that got away from catcher Matthew Redding. Chico shortstop Jay Pecci followed with a double to right field, putting the tying run in scoring position. Hill then came up with an RBI single to center field, cutting the Fielders lead to 4-3. Paxton would load the bases, issuing a four-pitch walk to Chico right fielder Jake Rife.

With nobody out, the bases loaded and the Fielders up by a single run, the infield played in. However, with Chico centerfielder Chris Lubanski at the plate, Paxton threw a wild pitch, allowing the tying run to score. Lubanski eventually lined out to shortstop Rex Rundgren for the first out of the inning. Paxton intentionally walked Quintana to re-load the bases, putting in play a potential double-play scenario with Chico third baseman Danny Gonzalez at the plate. Gonzalez hit a grounder to Rundgren, but his throw to home plate was offline, allowing two runs to score on the fielder's choice/throwing error combination. In more frustration, Paxton hit the next two batters he faced, allowing another run to score. Fortunately, Paxton got Steinhauer to hit into an inning-ending 6-2-3 double play, leaving the Fielders trailing by 7-4.

A downtrodden Fielders squad managed to pull together a small two-out rally in the top of the 9th inning. Nunez and Ziegler drew consecutive walks, allowing the tying run to step to the plate. Mansilla came through with an RBI single to drive in Nunez, cutting the deficit to 7-5. But, Patrick Brooks' groundout ended the game, leaving the tying run on base.

Both the Fielders and the Chico Outlaws will have the next three days off. The two teams will resume play, beginning another three-game series, on Thursday night. All three of the Fielders games against Chico have a 7:05p local start time (9:05pm central). You can listen to the games on 1220 AM WKRS or online at fieldersbaseball.com or wkrs.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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