St. George Surges Forward on Backwards Night
June 23, 2009 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
St. George RoadRunners News Release
ST. GEORGE, UTAH - Starting the game in the ninth inning and ending in the first did not confuse the St. George RoadRunners offense on Tuesday night. A relaxed and refreshed squad belted 15 hits in support of Raymar Diaz. St. George handily defeated the visiting Yuma Scorpions 13-4 on Backwards Night at Bruce Hurst Field.
The win improved the RoadRunners' GBL-best record to 18-11 while the Scorpions dropped to 7-16.
Diaz made his first start of the year and could not have asked for much more from his offense and defense. The right hander allowed two earned runs in seven innings, striking out three and walking none. Diaz (2-0) was also helped out by four double plays turned by the St. George defense.
Being Backwards Night, the RoadRunners took the lead early off Carlos Ladeuth (L, 1-2) in the ninth inning and never looked back. Cody Nowlin had two of his game-high five runs batted in during the opening frame with a single plating a pair.
Ryan Stevenson lined an RBI double in the eighth inning (technically the 2nd) and A.J. Valentine added an RBI sacrifice fly to give STG a 4-0 lead.
Yuma's Carlos Arroyo cut the lead to three with a run-scoring double in the seventh (3rd).
St. George pulled away in the sixth inning with a five-run tally. Yosvany scored on a wild pitch, Valentine plated a second RBI with a single and Nowlin highlighted the frame with a bases-clearing double.
Yuma would hit two home runs to account for their final runs. Carlos Pupo hit a towering solo shot off Diaz while CF Diover Avila took Bartolome Fortunato deep in the final inning.
Both teams had 15 hits apiece. St. George was led by Ruddy Yan with three singles while four others - Valentine, Jose Rodriguez, Nowlin and Almario - had two. Yuma SS Deivis Rivadeneira had four singles and a run scored to pace the Scorpions.
The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader Wednesday beginning at 5:05pm. St. George will hand the ball to David Seccombe (2-1, 6.23) in game one while Mac Nelson (4-0, 5.92) will start in the nightcap.
Live game audio of both games can be heard on the RoadRunners Radio Network beginning at 4:50pm with the voice of the club, John Potter.
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