Boys of summer bid farewell

They came from all over the United States to attain one goal.

From the Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes and even the deserts of New Mexico, 20 college baseball players, most of which had never seen or met each other, were looking for a competitive summer baseball experience.

It's a lot to ask people who have never met or spoken a word to one other to come together, play a team sport and actually succeed.

Not to mention do it in front of more fans in a single game than they had played in front of all season.

The 2009 Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, many of which had never even been to California, will probably have Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" stuck in their heads for the next three months, but that's definitely a positive.

Jack Johnson's ballclub heard the song ring through All Seasons RV Stadium following their 33 wins compared to 13 losses and ended the 2009 season with a 12-3 victory over the El Dorado Hills Vipers on Sunday night.

Yuba-Sutter finished the summer on a tear, winning 11 of their final 12 games to end the season.

Although they were denied the Horizon Air Summer Series title, Gold Sox baseball is much more than that according to Johnson.

It's about coming together as individuals and learning how to succeed as a single unit.

"You get attached with a group of guys like this; it happens every summer," Johnson said. "They accomplished something a lot of programs don't - a 33-win season. They came together as a team and truly loved each other and played hard for each other."

While most of the attention was focused on honoring the players and the end-of-season celebrations, Johnson's ballclub managed to focus and run away with yet another win.

Danny Brown picked up his franchise-record fifth homer of the season — his third in three nights — to put Yuba-Sutter ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first and bring the more than 2,100 fans to their feet.

The Gold Sox led 2-1 through the sixth inning, but put the game out of reach with a huge bottom of the sixth.

Twelve batters came up to bat in the inning and nine of them came around the score.

Four of those runs were thanks to a grand slam from third baseman Adrian Perez, who belted a high fastball over the left field wall to extend his team's lead to 11-1.

Perez also doubled in the team's 12th and final run of the season. The former Yuba College 49er also caught the final out of the summer, with a nifty catch he had to leap for in the top of the ninth.

Shortstop Danny Black, along with reliever Scott Harlan, is the only Gold Sox player with two years under his belt and said he wouldn't rule out the possibility of coming back for a third season.

"It's the experience of a lifetime," Black said. "The team comes together in just two months and become brothers. It's amazing to be a part of."

Black is headed to the University of Oklahoma, but also has an offer on the table from the New York Yankees.

He said he will most likely become a Sooner, but if he doesn't come back will never forget the times he had at the lakeside ballpark.

"We all share the same interest in baseball and loving the game," Black said. "You learn how to win the right way here and how to become a team."

Eleven out of the 20 players have the option of returning to the Gold Sox in 2010 if they so choose.

Sac State's Justin Lamb is one of those 11 guys and said he would play ball in Marysville the rest of his college career if he can.

"Just to know that you're in your hometown and know your family's here makes it that more fun," said Lamb, a Yuba City native. "It was the best summer of baseball I've ever had."

Sunday night marked the first NFL preseason game of the year, which means the boys of summer will soon fade.

Well, not really.

Many of Johnson's players will be heading back to programs that begin fall practice as soon as school starts.

But at least for the Yuba-Sutter area, baseball season if officially over.

No longer will the sound of a wood bat ring across Ellis Lake.

There won't be any YMCA sing-a-longs, cowbell ringers, or kids lining the fence of the first base dugout begging for their favorite player's autograph.

However, there is one thing for fans to cling to - you always have next season.

"The players need to take what they learned here back with them to their programs," Johnson said. "Every one of them became leaders. I'm going to miss them."