Seals Bounce Back in Game Three
August 9, 2009 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Victoria Seals News Release
Victoria, BC - Trying to respond from a heartbreaking loss in game two, the Victoria Seals returned to Royal Athletic Park for the series finale against the Chico Outlaws on Sunday afternoon. With the visitors turning to rookie Mikael Ryder (4-0) for the start, the Seals answered with Aaron Trolia (0-2) on the mound.
Grabbing an early lead in the bottom of the second inning, the Seals used a lead-off base hit from Brian Rios, along with another single from Brett Flowers to set up an RBI hit from Gabriel Riley for a 1-0 lead. After another base knock from Wilver Perez put the home side up by two, Sergio Pedroza cleared the bases with a two-run single to put Victoria up 4-0 through two innings.
Staging a response in the top half of the fourth, the Outlaws received a string of three straight singles from Truan Mehl, Norm Hutchins and Ryan Brown, along with an RBI groundout from B.J. Underkofler to cut the Seals lead in half. But with Riley in scoring position after a one-out single, Perez gave the Seals one run back in the bottom of the frame with another RBI base hit for a 5-2 advantage.
Pressing to close the gap once again in the seventh frame, Chico drew a walk to Dale Swinford, a hit-by-pitch to Blake Gailen and another walk to Rich Janeway to load the bases without an out in the frame. With clean-up hitter Shane Cronin at the dish against Victoria reliever Chris Bodishbaugh, Seals' centrefielder Gabriel Riley came up with a spectacular diving catch to allow just one run to score on the sacrifice fly, leaving Victoria up by a pair of runs.
Returning to the offense in the bottom of the inning, the Seals put a runner on with a single from Pedroza, then capitalized on an error to Chico reliever Mark Dibernardo before Josh Arhart cranked his ninth home run of the season deep to left field to put Victoria up 8-3 headed to the ninth.
Hoping to match a Victoria comeback one night earlier, the Outlaws made things interesting in the top of the ninth inning when Swinford reached on a lead-off error, Gailen followed that with his second single of the game, and a two-out home run from Cronin brought the visitors within two runs. But a fly-out to left field from Mehl put an end to the rally, and the Seals claim both the season and three-game series against Chico with an 8-6 win on Sunday afternoon.
Posting a strong showing through six innings, Aaron Trolia collects his first win as a Seal while Mikael Ryder takes his first loss on the season for the Outlaws. An excellent defensive performance along with a 2-for-4 showing at home plate earned a banner night for Gabriel Riley, while Wilver Perez and Sergio Pedroza both notched a pair of RBI's in the winning effort for Victoria.
Golden Baseball League Stories from August 9, 2009
- Seals Bounce Back in Game Three - Victoria Seals
- Seals Heartbroken In Extra Innings - Victoria Seals
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