Yuba-Sutter roasts Eagles back-to-back
Sunday, June 26, 2005 - The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox offensive outburst against the Oakland Eagles in Game 1 rolled over to Game 2.
The Gold Sox hammered out 14 hits Friday in a 10-7 win to open the three-game Horizon Air Summer Series set and hit the Eagles' pitching staff hard again a night later for a lopsided 10-2 victory Saturday.
The win was the Gold Sox (14-7, 11-5) second straight after dropping two in a row, putting the Gold Sox in sole possession of first place in the Don McCullough Division.
Jason Searle improved his hitting streak to six games after an RBI-single in the Gold Sox' three-run fourth inning, and Matt Vance scored four runs, while reaching base by getting hit on his first three plate appearances.
“I have no idea what that was all about. But I'll take it everytime if I'm going to score a run,” Vance said.
A.J. Valentine continued his torrid pace at the plate, following up a four-hit, four-RBI night with three hits and three RBIs, including a double in the fifth inning. It brought his average to .412 with 22 RBIs, each team-highs.
Gold Sox starting pitcher Kyle Hill followed up a rough relief appearance in a 13-5 loss to the Eagles Tuesday with a stellar outing for the victory. He pitched two innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits in the loss.
Hill (2-0) showed no signs of struggle in his fourth start, pitching six innings, allowing one earned run and scattering five hits. He walked four, hit two and fanned one.
“In relief, you just have a different mindset,” Hill said, adding that he didn't know much about the Eagles' offense in the outing. “Tonight, I knew they could swing the bats, and I knew they could do damage. My mental preparation is different.”
It was Hill's second straight win in a starting roll, lowering his ERA from 4.70 to 4.03.
“He was getting ahead and throwing first-pitch strikes,” Gold Sox manager Brad Peek said. “He threw 19-of-26 first-pitch strikes, which is outstanding. When you get hitters 0-1, that makes a difference how you set up pitches and what you can do to the hitters. He had a good mindset, got ahead and kept it down in the zone.”
Eagles starter Bret Wallace entered with impressive numbers - a 2-0 record and 0.64 ERA - but the Gold Sox didn't seem too awed, tagging him for five runs - two earned - on five hits in his two innings of work. His defense committed two errors, and he hit Vance twice, while walking one and striking out one.
“We are all just feeling comfortable and seeing the ball well at the plate,” Vance said. “We'll see what we've got tomorrow. I guess they are throwing their guy.”
“Their guy” would be Loren Moneypenny, who threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Salinas last week.
The Gold Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the second inning on Wallace. A Valentine ground-out scored Vance, an error allowed Jesse Rodgers to score and Billy Krause - hitting .158 - drove home his second run of the year with a single, scoring Jordan Prado.
Searle's sacrifice-fly to center scored Rodgers, who reached on a double to the wall in right. Valentine's second RBI, a single into shallow center, plated Vance.
Eagles reliever J.C. Dacanay wasn't any better than Wallace, and the Gold Sox touched him for five more runs - four earned - on four hits. He also hit two batters.
Vance, Rodgers and Valentine scored in the four-run fourth on RBIs from Searle, Prado and Billy Sinacori, respectively. Vance added the ninth run in the fifth inning on Valentine's final RBI, a double to left, and Johnny Norfolk came home on Rodgers' RBI-single.
“Honestly, our output was good and the result was good, but we could have done better going the other way. We were facing some soft pitching,” Searle said. “This is proof our hitting coach (Chris Terry) is doing a good job.”
Notes: The Gold Sox have lost another player to a major league organization with pitcher Omar Aguilar signing with the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Aguilar, a Merced College product, was drafted by the Brewers in the 30th round earlier this month in the amateur draft and had a scholarship offer from University of Oklahoma. He made just one appearance with the team after arriving a week ago and looked promising, hitting in the mid 90s while working one spotless inning in the Gold Sox 2-1 win over the Sacramento Legends.
