CalL1 Inland Empire 66ers

Storm Snap Streak, Bullpens Dominate

Published on August 6, 2015 under California League (CalL1)
Inland Empire 66ers News Release


San Bernardino, CA- The Inland Empire 66ers had the tying run in scoring position in the ninth inning on Wednesday, but in keeping with the night's them, a bullpen arm kept the Sixers off the board in Lake Elsinore's 7-6 win. The victory snapped the Storm's eight-game losing streak but both teams relievers dazzled in the contest.

The 66ers scored a pair of unearned run in the first of Matthew Shepherd but quickly fell behind in the second. After cruising through the first inning, Inland Empire starter Harrison Cooney allowed five runs on six hits in a 39-pitch inning and IE fell behind 5-2.

Inland Empire trailed 7-3 entering the bottom of the fourth inning but the 66ers got infield hits from Caleb Adams and Roberto Baldoquin. Stephen McGee and Bo Way each cashed them in with RBI singles to cut the deficit to 7-5. Way had two hits in the contest and extended his hit streak to a season-best 13 games.

Brandon Bayardi cut the deficit to 7-6 in the fifth when he lined a Shepherd pitch out to left field for his second homer of the year. Bayardi finished the game with two hits.

From that point on, the bullpens dominated for both sides. Inland Empire (53-54, 18-19) righty Trevor Foss relieved Cooney and struck out the first six batters he faced. He walked one batter and allowed no hits. Ronnie Muck followed with two innings of perfect relief with five Ks. Geoff Broussard rounded out the relief work with by striking out the side and walking one.

Gennison Reyes tossed two perfect frames for the Storm (40-69, 9-30) and Bryan Verbitsky tossed two no-hit innings with just one walk allowed and three Ks. Verbitsky earned his first save as he worked around the walk in the ninth by fanning IE's Mike Fish and Eric Aguilera to end the game. Reyes, Foss, Muck and Broussard each had innings where they struck out the side. The two bullpens combined to go 9.1 innings of no-hit shutout baseball allowing just three walks and striking out 20.

The 66ers open a series at Visalia on Thursday at 7:00 pm. It can be heard live at 66ers.com.

Check out the Inland Empire 66ers Statistics

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