Sox handle Legends

The Gold Sox were noticeably tired after arriving in town around 3:30 Thursday morning after a six-hour drive from San Luis Obispo.

Luckily for Yuba-Sutter, the Sacramento Legends offered a needed day off.

The Legends only brought nine players and were charged with four errors (a potential fifth one was ruled a hit) in a 11-2 Gold Sox blowout in a nonleague game.

At one point, the Gold Sox (16-4) used pitchers Blake Knabenshue and Nic Waechter in left and right field, respectively, and let relief pitcher Tony Biale bat for himself.

“We didn't play our best game, but sometimes it's tough against a team like that,” said Yuba-Sutter third baseman Brennan Garr, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games. “Nothing against them, but I think it was just hard to stay focused.”

The Legends (7-9), a team from the NorCal Semipro Conference, are expecting more of their players in uniform today in the finale of the two-game series. Sacramento's team photo on its Web site features Gnomo the Lawn Gnome, but apparently he wasn't available either.

Yuba-Sutter manager Brad Peek was as tired as anyone. He drove back to Elk Grove after the bus arrived in Marysville and then worked seven hours for his family business.

Peek did not think his team played to its potential despite the lopsided score.

“I was pretty disappointed in our effort ... just hustle, effort-wise,” he said. “We have paying customers, so we need a better effort from our guys.”

The Gold Sox led 7-0 at one point, scoring three in the first and four more in the third against Sacramento starting and losing pitcher Daniel Romero (0-2).

In the first, Ryan Angel doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. R.C. Dickerson bounced an RBI single to right. Cameron Shick walked. After one out, A.J. Valentine singled, and the ball skipped past left fielder Ed Gill as Dickerson and Shick each scored.

Valentine had a run-scoring single, and Brennan Garr a two-run double in the third. Garr scored the fourth run when Ricky Bambino grounded into a double play.

Yuba-Sutter scored single runs in the fourth and eighth and two more in the seventh.

Yuba-Sutter starter and winning pitcher Eric Thompson (3-1) went the first five innings, allowing four hits and two runs. Biale pitched the next three and Jason Maes the ninth.

The Legends scored both of those runs in the fourth. Russell Hocking had a sacrifice fly, and Thompson walked Chris Johnson with the bases loaded, forcing in a run.

Searle finished 3-for-4. Dickerson, Valentine, Garr and Mark Steinbeck each had two hits. Steinbeck actually broke an 0-for-18 skid when he bunted for a base hit to lead off the second and then doubled in the seventh.

Garr finished with two doubles and three RBIs. He said he was unaware of his hitting streak until he read it in the newspaper recently.

“I think I was 1-for-4 a lot of nights, but I'm starting to have more 2-for-4s,” he said.

Notes: The Gold Sox are 18-1 lifetime against teams from the NorCal Semipro Conference. The only loss came to the Cenco Sultans ... Dickerson has taken over the team hitting lead (.328) and leads Searle by five points ... ... Kyle Maunus entered the game in the sixth and took over in center field for Dickerson. Maunus has now played every position except for catcher and second base for the Gold Sox ... Peek said Logan Ardis will try and work out some kinks in the bullpen today and could start on Sunday against the San Francisco Seals.