Sox run past Legends

With Little League all-star tournaments under way all around the Yuba-Sutter area, it's a good thing most of those young ballplayers couldn't make it to Thursday night's game at All Seasons RV Stadium.

Fundamentals were nonexistent as the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox and Sacramento Legends combined to commit eight errors, hit four batters and walk 22.

Not exactly the prototype of a perfect ballgame.

However, the Gold Sox capitalized on six Sacramento errors, picked up 12 hits and absolutely crushed the Legends 18-2 to extend their Horizon Air Summer Series win streak to seven games.

Yuba-Sutter only had six hits through the first seven innings, but the offense pushed across nine runs in the bottom of the eighth on six hits and put the game well out of reach.

Before the start of this weekend's four-game stretch, Gold Sox manager Jack Johnson was avid about his pitchers learning to have better control.

Although the Gold Sox did have 18 runs on 12 hits, Johnson's pitching staff walked a season-high 10 batters.

"We need to address that," Johnson said. "We have to work mechanically on a couple of things with some guys. That's what summer is for. (The pitchers) are going to need to put the extra time in to make sure they make adjustments."

Yuba-Sutter starting pitcher Trent Evins' streak of five straight quality starts came to an end on Thursday when a sore arm forced him to leave the game after only three innings pitched.

Right-hander Brett Shankin (1-2) struggled with command in relief and walked five batters, but only allowed a single earned run to pick up his first victory of the summer.

Though 12 Gold Sox batters walked, left fielder Mikey Raudenbush took a more aggressive approach at the dish and wound up finishing the night 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

Raudenbush scored twice and it was his second consecutive four-RBI night.

"If they're going to throw a lot of balls you just need to be ready for your pitch," Raudenbush said. "I was just ready to hit it and wasn't wanting to take a walk. My mentality is always to look first pitch fastball."

Yuba-Sutter continued its dominance over the Legends, improving to 10-0 all-time against the Sacramento ballclub.

The Legends, along with the Sacramento Scorch, are the only two teams the Gold Sox have played every year since becoming a collegiate program in 2002.

That season, Pete Paciorek set the Gold Sox record for longest single-season hitting streak with 16 games. Max Stassi tied that record with not a moment to spare in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday.

Stassi went into his final at-bat 0-for-4, but picked up an RBI single up the middle to extend his streak to 16.

To break the franchise record, Stassi will need three more hits. Joel Torres had a 15-game streak in 2006, then came back to the Gold Sox in 2007 and hit safely in his first three games to set the mark at 18 games.

As for the rest of the team, they'll be happy with an eight-game conference winning streak and possibly, a move into first place.

Yuba-Sutter sits only one game back in the Don McCullough Division.

"It's always nice to be winning," Raudenbush said. "Even if you're winning like we did tonight there's never a dull moment. We just hope to stay hot."

• Gold Sox 18, Sac Legends 2
• NEXT GAME: Today, 7 p.m.
  Gold Sox vs. Sacramento