The Long Beach Coast are rolling through a dominant start to their inaugural season. The team is currently posting a 24-6 overall record, coasting on a five-game win streak as they head into another week of play.
The Coast kicked off the week with a six-game series against the Modesto Roadsters. Long Beach won four of those games, allowing them to clinch the series. However, the Coast’s last game of the series ended with the team’s first knockout round, where they fell in a 7-6 final score.
After dropping their final series game to the Modesto Roadsters, the Coast geared up for a series on the road against the Oakland Ballers.
The Coast fought hard in their series opener against the Ballers, culminating in another knockout round. In the first round, Long Beach’s Matthew Bardowell smacked three home runs but was immediately followed by Oakland’s Treymayne Cobb who hit four homers to clinch the 8-7 win for the opposing team.
This early loss didn’t set the tone for the Coast, as they continued their fight to get back on the winning side of things. Long Beach won the series by taking the next two games in dominant fashion with 18-5 and 12-8 wins respectively.
To close out the fifth week of the Pioneer Baseball League, the Coast returned home to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, hosting the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds for a three-game series. Long Beach kept the winning momentum rolling, sweeping the Freebirds over the weekend.
The Coast was cruising against the Freebirds, opening up the series with a 13-0 shutout. Left fielder Eddy Pelc was a big part of this win, scoring the game’s first run and hitting a three-run shot as part of his 3-for-3, four RBI performance of the day.
Bardowell continued with his offensive power in this big win. The right fielder had two extra base hits, a double and a triple, tallying up three RBIs to contribute to the shutout.
The offense wasn’t the only strength in the shutout, with the bullpen shutting down the visitors as well. Starting pitcher Brett Wozniak tossed six innings for the Coast, only allowing two hits on 73 pitches. Rookie reliever Jaxon Byrd came in to earn the save, allowing just a singular hit over the final three innings.
Heading into the second game of the series, the Coast continued their offensive strength, scoring five runs in the first inning alone. After scoring an additional two runs in the third inning, the Coast jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Garret Van Deventer pitched four scoreless innings before the Freebirds broke through in the fifth inning. Even with an explosive offense, the Coast buckled down and held on for a 9-6 win to take Game 2.
Although the Coast had already won the series, Long Beach celebrated Father’s Day with a clean sweep over the Freebirds. This 6-2 final victory clinched the Coast’s fourth series sweep in its sixth-consecutive series win of the season.
Long Beach’s bats were alive and well in Sunday’s contest, showing their strength with multiple home runs for the home team. Jacob Jablonski got the scoring going with a leadoff homer in the second inning, followed by Cuba Bess’s three-run home run to put the Coast up 4-0 through the first three frames.
Starting pitcher Jack Martin held things down on the bump for Long Beach, keeping the Freebirds hitless throughout 5.1 innings. The visitors managed to get two hits off Martin after that, resulting in their only two runs of the contest.
The Coast held on to their early lead, tacking on two more runs in the 7th and 8th innings to win the final game of the series 6-2. Martin’s third win of the season makes him a leading pitcher for the Coast, proving why he earned PBL Pitcher of the Week honors the previous week.
Long Beach is on the road again, continuing their battle with the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds. The Coast will play a three-game series with the Freebirds Tuesday through Thursday before they face off with the Modesto Roadsters over the weekend.
