Victoria Seals Nix The Knuckleball Princess

July 28, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Victoria Seals News Release


Playing host to the largest crowd in franchise history, the Victoria Seals welcomed the Chico Outlaws back to Royal Athletic Park on Tuesday. With the "Knuckleball Princess" Eri Yoshida (0-2) making her much-anticipated first road start of the season, the Seals countered with Jino Gonzalez (3-4) in front of 4,753 fans.

For a second straight night it was the Outlaws on the board early, when lead-off batter Mitch Einertson lifted the second pitch of the game over the left field fence to quiet the capacity crowd. Two batters later Maikel Jova doubled the Chico lead with a solo shot of his own, putting the visitors in front 2-0 through one inning of play.

With Yoshida retiring the side in order in the bottom of the frame, the Outlaws went up by three in the top of the second when Robby Alcombrack got into the act with Chico's third solo home run of the game. Victoria struck back in the bottom of the second inning, however, responding to take the lead for good.

After Josh Arhart, Brian Rios, Matt Kavanaugh and Colin Moro drew four consecutive walks to put the Seals on the board, Victoria native Charlie Strandlund lifted his first career home run - a grand slam over the left field fence - to bring the crowd to their feet and give the home side a 5-3 lead.

Tacking on one more run in the bottom of the second, the Seals would chase Yoshida from the game in the bottom of the third when a walk to Moro and a hit-by-pitch to Gonzalez set up a sacrifice fly from Wilver Perez against Chico reliever Wayne Franklin.

The next batter, Terrence McClain, then took the Outlaws pitcher deep to left field, polishing off a three-run third frame for Victoria and lifting the Seals to a 9-3 advantage through three complete. In the fourth, Brian Rios pushed the Seals into double digits with the sixth combined home run of the game, putting Victoria up by seven heading to the fifth.

Chico then closed the gap in the fifth frame, using an RBI single from Santo DeLeon and a run-scoring double off the bat of Alcombrack to score a pair before Einertson made it a 10-6 ball game with an RBI base hit of his own in the sixth inning.

The Seals bounced back with a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, however, stringing together a single from Tim Rodriguez and a double courtesy of Josh Arhart to push the score to 12-6. With reliever Aaron Easton throwing two solid innings to set up closer Brandon Villafuerte in the ninth, the Victoria Seals sent the big crowd home happy with a 12-6 win to even the series against the Outlaws.

Jino Gonzalez evened his record at 4-4 on the season with six strong innings on the mound, while Yoshida took the loss in her first Canadian start, taking eight earned runs against in the process. Charlie Strandlund was the offensive standout once again for the Seals, leading his team to victory with a grand slam home run, while Mitch Einertson had three hits and a pair batted in in a losing effort for Chico.

Full boxscore: http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscore.html?gameid=12888

The rubber match of this three-game series between the Outlaws and Seals is a mid-week afternoon affair at Royal Athletic Park. With the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 noon (PT), the Seals invite fans to bring their work to the ballpark and enjoy a day in the sun with the Seals. 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!



Golden Baseball League Stories from July 28, 2010


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