Pioneers, Longhorns visit for weekend
Thursday, July 14, 2005 - While the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox have been enjoying a three-day break, the Solano Thunderbirds have moved into first place by a half game in the McCullough Division of the Horizon Air Summer Series.
Gold Sox manager Brad Peek was afraid that would happen after his team finished off a sweep of the horrible Oakland Expos on Sunday night.
However, the Gold Sox have a chance to jump back into the division lead this weekend when the NorCal Longhorns enter for a three-game series set beginning Friday at All Seasons RV Stadium. The Folsom Pioneers open the weekend tonight in a nonseries contest.
The Longhorns, 9-7 and in third place in the Engelken Division, will play in Marysville for the first time. Novato leads the division at 14-4 and the Sacramento Scorch are second at 10-6.
The Pioneers, who compete in the Nor-Cal Semi-Pro Conference, are 2-12 overall, according to their website and feature former Live Oak and Yuba College product Nic Williams, who is hitting .435 with three RBIs. Williams is currently attending UC San Diego.
The Gold Sox are in the middle of a four-game winning streak.
A.J. Valentine continues to lead the club at the plate with a .352 average after battling through a short hitting slump. He has a team-leading 31 RBIs, four home runs and 11 doubles.
Jason Searle trails Valentine at .325 with 25 RBIs and six doubles. Matt Vance is at .324 with 12 RBIs, nine doubles and a home run. He leads 9-for-9 in stolen bases to lead the team.
The Gold Sox are hitting .271 as a team.
Matt Huff (4-2) now leads all starting pitchers in ERA at 1.37 after several strong performances. Starter Tyler Pearson (5-1, 2.38) is still the Gold Sox ace, but has returned to mortality after several dominating outings to begin the season. He leads the team with 43 strikes outs and just 15 walks.
Closer Jason Peters (1-1, .42) has been nearly unhittable, saving a team-high six games.
The pitching staff has a 3.01 ERA.
