Seals Sting The Scorpions
July 24, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Victoria Seals News Release
Victoria, BC - Returning home to Royal Athletic Park after nearly three weeks on the road, the Victoria Seals kicked off a six-day homestand with a double-header against the Yuma Scorpions on Friday night. Taking to the mound in game one for the Seals was Jino Gonzalez (2-4), who matched up against Joey Evans (0-1) for Yuma.
Staking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, the Seals used five combined singles from Brian Rios, Matt Edgecombe, Matt Kavanaugh, Dale Swinford and finally Wilver Perez to jump out to an early advantage. Bouncing back with a run of their own in the top of the third, the Scorpions got on the board with the help of a solo home run from Eric Scriven.
Rallying to tie the game in the fourth frame, three consecutive base hits from Jonel Pacheco, Mark Samuelson and Peeter Ramos cashed the lead-off batter to even the game 2-2. That all changed in the bottom of the inning, however, when Kavanaugh launched the first pitch he saw over the right field fence to put Victoria back on top.
Adding an insurance run in the fifth, the Seals put the game away when Perez picked up a lead-off single, stole second base and then crossed home with an RBI single courtesy of Terrence McClain to put the home side ahead 4-2. With closer Brandon Villafuerte on to polish off the Scorpions in the seventh, Victoria took game one of the double-header by a 4-2 final score.
Jino Gonzalez improved to 3-4 on the second with five strong innings of work, while Joey Evans took the loss for Yuma. Two hits from both Matt Kavanaugh and Wilver Perez provided the scoring for the Seals while Eric Scriven finished 3-for-4 in a losing effort for the Scorpions.
Coming right back to square off in game two of the series, the Seals and Scorpions renewed rivalries with the second-half of the double header. With Victoria sending Canadian Jeff Duda (1-2) to the mound, Yuma countered with Luis Azocar (0-0) in the late game.
Again it was the Seals taking the lead in the early stages, converting a lead-off walk to Wilver Perez with the help of another stolen base from the Victoria shortstop, a throwing error against Scorpions first basemen Mark Samuelson and a sacrifice fly from Tim Rodriguez. Doubling their lead to 2-0 in the second inning, a lead-off home run for Josh Arhart put the Seals comfortably ahead early.
In the bottom of the third, though, Victoria opened the flood gates at Royal Athletic Park. After a double from Perez and an RBI single off the bat of Terrence McClain, the Seals loaded the bases with a single from Rodriguez and walk to Brian Rios. Arhart then drew another RBI with a bases-loaded walk before back-to-back singles from Colin Moro and Matt Kavanaugh made it 5-0.
Before the frame was finished, another bases-loaded single, this time from Dale Swinford, kept the ball rolling long enough for an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Duda to put the home side up 8-0 through three innings.
After a key double play quashed a Scorpions rally in the top of the fourth, Victoria tacked on another pair of runs in the bottom of the inning when a lead-off long ball from McClain set up a double from Rodriguez and another RBI from Arhart to push the Seals into double-digits.
With a double from Kavanaugh translating into an 11-0 Victoria lead in the bottom of the fifth, Yuma finally broke the shutout bid in the top half of the sixth inning. A base hit from Mark Samuelson with two runners on preceded a sacrifice fly off the bat of Peeter Ramos, scoring a pair for the Scorpions in the frame.
Answering with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, the Seals capitalized on a two straight two-out hits from Kyle Orr and Colin Moro to set up another big hit from Matt Kavanaugh, a two-run double to restore the 11-run advantage. Turning to P.J. Bevis on the mound in the final frame, Victoria wrapped up a successful Friday night with a 13-2 victory over the Scorpions.
Jeff Duda earned his second win on the year after throwing five shutout innings, while Luis Azocar was tagged for six earned runs in a losing effort. Matt Kavanaugh contributed three hits and three RBI's for the Seals, while Mark Samuelson came up empty handed despite a 3-for-3 outing for Yuma. With three stolen bases on the day, Wilver Perez also pushed his league-leading total to 45, seven away from a new Golden Baseball League record.
The Seals and Scorpions are set to do battle with another double-header matchup tomorrow, on Paint the Park Pink Night at Royal Athletic Park. Game time is slated for 5:05 p.m. (PT), and tickets are available by calling (250) 220-7777, or online via www.victoriaseals.ca. The contest will also be broadcast through the Seals website, beginning ten minutes before the scheduled first pitch!
Don't forget to place your bids on the Victoria Seals Paint the Park Pink commemorative jersey, now up for auction at www.victoriaseals.ca! All proceeds from the eBay auction will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, BC & Yukon Region! The auctions closes at 7:00 p.m. (PT) tomorrow night!
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Golden Baseball League Stories from July 24, 2010
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