Outlaws Score Late, Down Silver Sox 6-4

July 5, 2007 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Chico Outlaws News Release


CHICO, CA - The Chico Outlaws packed the house on the 4th of July, and they didn't disappoint the 4,360 in attendance -- the Outlaws scored four unanswered runs late in the contest to post a 6-4 come-from-behind victory over the Reno Silver Sox in the opener of a three-game series at Nettleton Stadium.

The fans were treated to more fireworks than had been advertised for the 4th, as a bench-clearing brawl broke out midway through the game. Stemming from Tuesday's violent collision at home plate between Chico's Jason Van Meetren and Silver Sox catcher Masashi Chikazawa in the Outlaws 13-9 victory over Reno, Wednesday's two starting pitchers (Nick Singleton for Chico, Dusty Bergman for Reno) took turns plunking batters until tensions overflowed. Prior to the brawl, Chico grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Daniel Nava knocked in Jesse Kovacs with a 1st inning sacrifice fly. Van Meetren was hit with a pitch in his first at-bat...Reno's Jose Rodriguez was hit with a Springman offering in the 2nd inning. Silver Sox first baseman Ryan Brown was hit with a pitch in the 4th inning...then in the 5th Reno went up 2-1 when, with a man aboard, Juan Senreiso belted a home run over the left field wall. Reno's Joe Melton was then hit by a Singleton pitch and the umpires gave both benches a warning.

Ricky Bambino led off the Chico half of the 5th inning and was drilled by a Bergman pitch...Bambino then charged the mound and both benches and bullpens emptied. It took nearly 15 minutes to restore order...when the dust had settled, Bambino, Singleton and Reno manager Les Lancaster were ejected. The Outlaws tied up the game following the melee when Jason Matteucci reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and third and scored on an Eric Pringle sacrifice fly. The Silver Sox answered right back in the 6th, and they once again used the long ball - with Mike Done at second, Kane Simmons laced a home run to dead certer...the two-run blast giving Reno a 4-2 lead. But it would prove to be Reno's last hurrah - the Outlaws tied up the game in the bottom of the 6th inning on Brock Ungricht's two-out, two-run single...then in the 7th Chico went ahead for good when Steve Boggs (who extended his league-best hitting streak to 15 games) doubled in Matteucci to put the Outlaws up 5-4. Jesse Oster came in from the Chico bullpen to toss a scoreless 8th, then in the bottom of the inning Ungricht (who had taken over for Bambino) delivered another two-out RBI hit - his bloop single down the right field line plated Scott Dragicevich to make the score 6-4. Outlaws closer Todd Gelatka came in and retired the Silver Sox in order in the 9th to give Chico its second straight win and 13th in the last 14 games.

Singleton (2-2) struck out eight in his seven innings of work to earn the win...Chris Testa (1-1) took the loss in relief for the Silver Sox. The Outlaws had just seven hits on the night - Boggs went 2-for-3 while Ungricht had two singles and three RBI...Senreiso and Simmons each had two hits to pace Reno's 10-hit attack. With the win, Chico improved to 19-7 on the season and maintained their three game lead over second place Long Beach in the Golden Baseball League first half race...the Silver Sox now trail Chico by 8½ games by falling to 10-15 on the year. Game two of the series is set for Thursday with right-hander Tyler Pearson (2-1) on the mound for the Outlaws...the Silver Sox are expected to counter with righty Matt Parris (2-4). Hear all the action with "The Voice" of the Outlaws, Rory Miller, beginning at 6:35pm on SportsFan 101.7 ESPN Radio.



Golden Baseball League Stories from July 5, 2007


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