Vickers and Ventura Bolt Thunder into Tie for Second
July 1, 2009 - United League Baseball (ULB)
Coastal Bend Thunder News Release
July 1, 2009 -- Robstown, TX -- Leivi Ventura stepped in to the batters box to lead off the bottom of the 8th after his team and given away the lead an inning before. Ventura put a charge into a 1-1 offering from reliever Robert Wooley and sent the ball splashing down into Fairgrounds Lake, a long, long way from home plate. Ventura's blast put the Thunder on top 5-4 and sparked a big inning. Later in the inning, Bryan Vickers stepped up with the bases loaded and sent a big fly of his own over the left centerfield wall for a grand slam. The two home runs gave the Thunder a 9-4 lead and put them up for good.
Toro Trevino put his last outing behind him and delivered a gem for Coastal Bend at Fairgrounds Field this evening. The Corpus Christi native and W.B. Ray High School star, held the visitors from Amarillo to 4 runs, only 2 of which were earned, while scattering 6 hits and striking out 3.
Coastal Bend took the early lead scoring 2 runs in the home half of the first. Dustin Smith led off the game with a single and stole second on the first pitch to Amadeo Zazueta. Zazueta reached first and Smith moved to third on an error by Amarillo first baseman, Trent Lockwood. Ventura grounded into a double play, but Smith would score on the play. Manny Mejia singled up the middle to get the Thunder offense going again with two outs. Mike Goss stepped up next and blasted an RBI triple to the right field corner driving in Mejia from first, which gave Coastal Bend an early 2-run cushion.
Amarillo would tie the game in the top of the 5th, scoring two unearned runs. Carlos Figueroa's single with the bases loaded sent both Bueno and Simon to the plate and knotting the game at 2.
Thunder took the lead back in the bottom of the 5th when Leivi Ventura reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded driving in Bryan Vickers from third. Coastal Bend then extended that lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th. Mike Goss doubled with one out and later scored when Kevin Butler reached on an error by Amarillo shortstop Willie James.
However, Amarillo would come back to tie the game in the top of the 8th on a 2 RBI double off the bat of Catcher Justin Wenger.
The Amarillo advantage would not last long as the first batter of the bottom of the 8th, Leivi Ventura, belted a no-doubter that cleared the leftfield wall to give the Thunder a 5-4 lead. Ventura's blast awoke the Thunder offense as they loaded the bases for Bryan Vickers. Vickers smacked the 1-0 pitch from Wooley out to deep left centerfield giving the Thunder a 9-4 advantage.
Benny Cepeda picked up his second win of the season in relief for the Thunder after pitching 0.1 innings in relief and striking out the only batter he faced. Alex Gett made things interesting in the 9th as he gave up a single and walked two batters to load the bases. Terrence McClain singled to left driving in two runs, which made it a 9-6 game and brought the tying run to the plate. Trent Lockwood stepped up next and drilled a triple down the right field line closing the gap to 1. Raul Trevino came in with two outs and the tying run on third. Trevino got Justin Wenger to ground out to end the game, preserve the Thunder victory, and earn the save.
With the win, Coastal Bend improves their record to 11-8 and into a tie for second place in United League Baseball standings as they are set begin a 4 game road trip against these same Amarillo Dillas in Amarillo tomorrow night. The Thunder's next home game will be against the Edinburg RoadRunners on Monday, July 6, at 7:05 pm at Fairgrounds Field. Monday is Ladies night at the ballpark where all ladies get in free, as well as Margarita Monday so come join us for some exciting baseball action.
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United League Baseball Stories from July 1, 2009
- Colts Take First Road Series of the Season - San Angelo Colts
- Roadrunners Lose Third in a Row - Edinburg Roadrunners
- Vickers and Ventura Bolt Thunder into Tie for Second - Coastal Bend Thunder
- WhiteWings Fall to Broncos - Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings
- Broncos Pound WhiteWings - Laredo Broncos
- Roadrunners Team Up With The Food Bank of Rio Grande Valley - Edinburg Roadrunners
- Colts nab second straight win in Edinburg - San Angelo Colts
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