Seals Finish Off Inaugural Season
September 1, 2009 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Victoria Seals News Release
Long Beach, CA - Playing the final game of their inaugural season on Monday night, the Victoria Seals returned to Blair Field for game four against the Long Beach Armada. With the home side giving the start to rookie Zach Beal (1-1), the Seals answered with Eduardo Baeza (5-9) in the series finale.
Getting the early jump they were looking for, Long Beach took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when a pair of two-out hits, a single from Matt Edgecombe and a double off the bat of J.J. Sherrill, opened the scoring.
Victoria responded with a couple of clutch hits in the top of the third inning, using a double from Brett Flowers to cash Petie Montero after the second basemen's lead-off single, followed by an extra base hit courtesy of Gabriel Riley for a 2-1 advantage.
The Seals then stretched their lead to two runs when a walk to Matt Kavanaugh scored on a sacrifice fly from Flowers in the fifth frame. The Armada would fire back in the bottom of the inning, though, receiving a base hit from David Ramirez in the catcher's final professional game, which later scored on a wild pitch from Baeza.
With Anthony Pluta aiming to protect a 3-2 Victoria lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, the reliever surrendered walks to both Josh Womack and Jonny Kaplan to put a pair on with two outs in the frame. After a single from Edgecombe knotted the score, Long Beach took a 4-3 lead with the help of another walk to Sherrill and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Daryl Jones.
Trying to pull off a comeback of their own in the top of the ninth inning, the Seals advanced the tying run to scoring position with a lead-off single from Terry Mermer and the second hit of the game from Takashi Miyoshi, who picked up his first hit in five years earlier in the contest. Bouncing back to silence the visitors, closer Koichi Misawa struck out the game's final two batters, ending the Armada season on a high note with a 4-3 Long Beach victory.
Reliever Dustin Gober earns credit for the win on the mound, while Anthony Pluta is charged with his third loss on the year for the Seals. Both J.J. Sherrill and Matt Edgecombe posted a pair of hits on the night for the home side, and also chipped in an RBI each in the winning effort. Brett Flowers finished the year above .300 for a third straight year, knocking in a pair of runs for Victoria.
Full boxscore: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscore.html?gameid=2096
Wrapping up their first season with a 32-50 record, the Victoria Seals would like to thank all of their players, staff, host families, supporters, sponsors and most importantly, the fans, for making this year a tremendous success. We not only welcome your comments on the Golden Baseball League season that was, but would also love to hear your input on the upcoming year! Please e-mail us at info@victoriaseals.ca or call (250) 480-4487.
Season tickets for the 2010 campaign are also now on sale, available through the Victoria Seals office at 1014 Caledonia Street. Call (250) 480-4487 for more information, or to book your seat today!
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Golden Baseball League Stories from September 1, 2009
- Armada Thank Fans - Long Beach Armada
- Vipers Set for Playoffs - Calgary Vipers
- Fleet sweeps Seals to close season - Long Beach Armada
- Seals Finish Off Inaugural Season - Victoria Seals
- Adams Plays All Nine For Toros - Tucson Toros
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