Gold Sox batters hunt down Horns

Like any type of illness, it takes a little rest, some time off and a bit of medicine to get back to 100 percent.

For the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, the cure to the "funkbug," as manager Jack Johnson labeled the team's three-game losing streak, was pretty simple — 18 hits and an eye-popping 14 runs.

Yuba-Sutter took game one of its four-game set with the Nor-Cal Longhorns 14-1 on Thursday night at All Seasons RV Stadium, avoiding the franchise's second ever four-game skid.

The Gold Sox hadn't scored more than five runs since July 10 against the Sacramento Scorch, but all nine batters in the starting lineup hit safely Thursday.

The team's 18 hits were more than the last two games combined, and tied for the sec-

ond-highest hit output this season.

The fact that every member of the Gold Sox lineup picked up a hit was just what the doctor ordered, according to Johnson. "If players have pride in their team, they want to come out after a losing streak and make adjustments," Johnson said. "We have a tradition here of winning and they have started to get a feel of that."

Johnson's squad jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a two-RBI single from designated hitter Mike Wiseman.

The Gold Sox tacked on three more in the fourth, but really broke things open in the bottom of the sixth with nine runs on seven hits.

Fourteen batters came to the dish, including Justin Lamb, Christian Garcia, Max Stassi and Mikey Raudenbush, who all knocked in runs on singles.

Garcia had his best night of the summer for the Gold Sox by finishing 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

He believes the three-day layoff this week gave the players a chance to get better perspective on the game and forget last weekend's sweep.

"We didn't want to leave runners on base, which is something we had trouble with (against San Jose)," Garcia said. "Once somebody gets a hit it builds confidence throughout the lineup."

The offensive lull subsided at least for one night, but that didn't mean the Yuba-Sutter pitching staff decided to take the night off.

Last weekend, three out of the four starters turned in quality starts and the trend continued on Thursday.

Corey Chaffins improved to 3-2 and pitched his third consecutive quality start, going seven innings, striking out six and didn't allow an earned run.

Chaffins landed first-pitch strikes on the first seven batters he faced and said getting ahead early was key.

"That's been my biggest thing is getting ahead of the hitters," Chaffins said. "I didn't have to try and strike anybody out or face any pressure situations so I just threw strikes."

Right-hander Trent Evins went eight innings last Friday, only allowing an earned run and will get the ball for Johnson tonight.

Although the pitching staff has been performing well despite only eight healthy arms, Johnson will be adding one more pitcher to help out the remainder of the weekend.

Yuba College's Matt Vedo, a Colusa High product, will join the team today to provide depth to Johnson's bullpen.

Vedo sports a plus-90 fastball and went 5-4 with the 49ers this past season. He struck out 48 batters in 661⁄3 innings with a 4.21 ERA.