First Knockout Round Win for Yolo
Oakland Ballers
(27-23)
8
Yolo High Wheelers
(25-23)
8
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Oakland Ballers | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
|
Yolo High Wheelers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
Davis, Ca.--It was a first for the Yolo High Wheelers (25-23; 2-0) as the club won a knockout round defeating the Oakland Ballers (27-23; 0-2) on Wednesday at Dobbins Stadium. Yolo left fielder Jose Gonzalez defeated Oakland first baseman JP Gates 1-0 in the second round. The nine-inning game ended 8-8. Yolo is now 1-4 in the knockout session. In the first round, Oakland third baseman Dondrei Hubbard and Yolo first baseman Braedon Blackford were shutout. It was the fourth swing for Gonzalez which was launched down the right field line for the game-decider.
Gonzalez was the knockout participant on July 4th against Oakland and he'd had it on his mind to come through this time, "I got my chance a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately I didn't come out on top. But I was glad I got my chance again, last time I went out and got a little aggressive but this time all I needed was one good swing and Jerome (pitching coach Jerome Williams) found my barrel and I put a good swing on it."
The High Wheelers jumped ahead in the first inning scoring three times on a homer by Blackford (9). However, the Ballers responded with two runs in the second on RBI singles by right fielder Trevor Halesma and catcher Tyler Lozano. The visitors added a run in the third to tie the game and took the lead scoring three times in the fourth. It was an RBI double for second baseman Austin Davis, and a two-out two-run single by Hubbard.
However, Yolo battled back in its half of the inning with three runs. Right fielder Tanner Smith led off with a triple and scored on a groundout to short by third baseman Kirkland Banks. Later it was second baseman Bobby Lada who came through with a two-out two-run double which tied it.
The game see-sawed with the teams last scoring in the seventh--each with one run. Blackford was the hitting star. He was four-for-five (homer, two doubles, single) and had four RBI's. It was his first four-hit game of the season and the RBI's matched a personal season-high which he also accomplished against Oakland on June 21.
"I felt good with my timing today," Blackford said. "I was getting my front foot down early enough and was able to recognize spin in the first at-bat (homer). Overall my timing felt very good."
Blackford also is excited for the 2-0 second-half start, "we're just trying to take it one game at a time. It was important to win the home run derby. We lost four of them in the first half so who knows where we'd be in the standings if we had won those."
Brandon McPherson was the starting pitcher for Yolo. It was his seventh straight no-decision. He struck out five over five innings and allowed ten hits (most by him this season). The right-hander allowed six runs which matched his high and walked two.
Left-hander Kris Anglin pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Since returning from injury on July 6th, he's struck out ten in six games. Righty Connor Langrell kept the game tied with a shutout ninth.
Oakland right-handed starter Carson Lambert lasted 3 1/3 innings issuing seven hits and five runs (all earned) with no strikeouts.
Game three of this series is Thursday afternoon at 4:30 in Davis. It'll be southpaws opposing each other as Gates will start for Oakland against Yolo left-hander Brandon Mitchell.
HIGH TALES
Dawson Lane appeared out of the bullpen for the first time with Yolo. He worked 2/3 of an inning coming in, in the sixth. He's made seven starts this year with an 0-3 mark
Everybody in the Yolo produced either reaching base safely or having an RBI
Six of Blackford's nine homers have come against Oakland including two off Lambert