DOMINANT ARMS RULE THE DAY AS THE BLUE SOX CONTINUE TO STREAK

By Thaddeus Krzus

 

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Day 13 of the 2016 California Winter League season saw pitching dominate over the course of five games, with an average margin of victory of four runs, and an average run output of 1.6 for the losing teams.

Blake Marchant paced the British Columbia Bombers’ offense to a 7-2 win over the Midwest Haymakers to start the day on the Auxiliary Field. The 22-year-old from Indianola, Iowa went 2-for-4 at the dish with three runs driven in.

Bombers’ (4-5-1) starting pitcher Alan Rombkowski picked up his first win of the season, tossing three innings of shutout ball, while allowing two hits and collecting three strike outs.

Haymakers’ (3-6) catcher Joe Coyne collected two hits, raising his average by more than 60 points to .294 on the year.

In the second game from the Auxiliary field, Christian Torres (W, 3-0) punched out nine Bay Area Bootleggers (2-7-1) on Tuesday morning, helping the Alberta Grizzly (6-4) win their second straight game with a 6-2 final.

The product from Notre Dame continued his stretch of dominance over CWL opponents, as the 22-year-old from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA has collected 33 strikeouts on the year, with 28 of those coming in his last three starts.

Tanner Oymaian picked up two hits and scored twice for the Grizzly offense. The Anaheim, Calif. native has scored at least one run in his last four games, tallying a total six over that span.

The Palm Springs Power opened up the double-header at Palm Springs Stadium with a 7-2 victory over the Toronto Rush.

The Power (5-4) used an RBI single by Jordan Brower and an RBI groundout from Cameron Johnson to grab an early two-run lead at the end of an inning and rode the arms of Julian Esquibel, Kevin Lenik and Kyle Pisano to the decisive victory.

Brower had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and a double. The Newbury Park, Calif. native extended his hitting streak to four games, in which the 24-year-old is 6-for-10 with five RBI and three runs scored.

Esquibel (W, 1-2) shut out the Rush (6-4) over three innings, while allowing just one hit, issuing one walk and striking out three.

The Washington Blue Sox continued their hot stretch by winning their third straight game, a 5-0 shut out over the Palm Desert Coyotes to wrap up the day at the main stadium.

Washington (4-6) struck for two runs in the first and tacked on three more in the second, with RBI off the bats of Clayton Truex and Anthony Sorrentino.

Kenny Knudsen (W, 1-3) worked three innings of relief of Jarret Martin (1.2 IP, H, 4 SO) and gave up two hits while punching out three on 38 pitches. The righty from Sugar Hill, Ga. has allowed just three earned runs over his 13 innings of work this season to go along with 13 strikeouts.

The final matchup of the day saw the Canada A’s win in a walk-off over the Coachella Valley Snowbirds, 3-2.

Brendan Hendriks tripled to start the bottom of the seventh and came around to score on Brady Miller’s single to pull the defending champions within half a game of the Manitoba North Stars for first place.

The Snowbirds (2-8) tied the game at two apiece in the top of the inning with a two-out rally behind a single by Shun Morofuji and a double off the bat of Masahiro Miyadera.

Tanner Kiest tossed the first five innings for Canada (7-3) and struck out 10 in the no decision. TJ Pruneda (W, 3-0) allowed one run on two hits and three strikeouts en route to picking up his third win of the season.

Day 14 action of the CWL features a full slate of games, with three on the Auxiliary Field and two at Palm Springs Stadium. The Auxiliary Field will matchups between the Palm Springs Chill and the Palm Desert Coyotes at 8:30 a.m., the Palm Springs Power and the Oregon Lumberjacks at 11 a.m., and finish off with the Manitoba North Stars taking on the Toronto Rush.

Palm Springs Stadium will see the Bay Area Bootleggers facing off against the British Columbia Bombers at 9 a.m. and wrap up with the New York Colonials visiting the Midwest Haymakers.

Wednesday will also be $1 admission at Palm Springs Stadium, brought to you by Jack in the Box.