Legends Bounce Back Friday to Split Series
Written By: Jacob Siegel
The Legends started their homestand off on a tough note Thursday, dropping the opening game against West Coast Kings Gold 16-5. Although he has had a great season so far, it was not Ari Kligman’s sharpest outing, but Mickey Radanovich came in and masterfully stopped the bleeding, recording five outs on just 11 pitches. After some more trouble with command and control for the Legends, they found themselves down by double digits entering the 4th. The Legends then started to fight back, with Ryan Farr hitting an RBI single and Ryan Lee an RBI double, one of the hardest hit balls of the year. After John Stephens and Riley Foard both threw a scoreless inning, the Legends scratched back a few runs in the bottom of the 9th off a Nick Thomson double and a Josh Quinn single, but it was too little and too late in a big loss.
On Friday, the Legends bounced back in a big way, beating West Coast Kings Gold 8-3 to split the two game set. Grant Selig started the game on the mound for the Legends and set the tone through the first five outs including four strikeouts before being removed from the game with an injury. Ryan Johnson then came in for the Legends throwing three strong innings with four strikeouts and two earned runs. After Malcolm Hsu allowed the two inherited runners from Johnson to score, he beared down and threw an inning with only one earned run to his record while striking out two.
The Legends offense was quiet for the first three innings on Friday, as the game entered the 4th knotted up at zero. However, the Legends put up back to back three run innings in the 4th and 5th to put West Coast Kings Gold at arm’s length. After Antonio Nanez reached base in the 4th, he was grounded over to second, and stole third, Josh Quinn scored him with a fielder’s choice where Nanez beat the throw home. After Quinn stole a base, Riley Foard scored him with a single, and with a sense of deja vu, after Foard stole a base, Ethan Payne scored him with a single.
In the 5th, Quinn again knocked in Nanez, this time with a hard single to left. After a Rowan Felsch hit by pitch and a popout, Noah Zertuche came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in a 4-2 ballgame. A hard ground ball just past the dive of the second baseman scoffed two and gave the Legends a four run lead heading into the 6th. After Fareed Ahmed threw an inning and a third with three punchouts and without allowing an earned run, the Legends added to their lead in the bottom of the 7th. Ryan Lee hit a pinch hit single to score Josh Quinn, and after pinch running for Lee, Ryan Anderson executed a first and third play perfectly, staying in the rundown long enough for Nick Thomson to score from third, giving the Legends another insurance run. Following a rough outing on Thursday, Jacob Ruiz bounced back on Friday with two scoreless innings to close out the game for the Legends.
The Legends have two more games this weekend, both on the road. They are in Sonoma on Saturday night facing the Sonoma Stompers, then in Lathrop on Sunday facing the San Francisco Seals.
Stars of the Series:
⭐ Josh Quinn: 4-8, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SB
⭐️⭐️ Fareed Ahmed: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
⭐️⭐️⭐ Noah Zertuche: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB
