Legends go 1-2 against Blues
Passed balls and errors seemed to be the popular trend in this three-game series.
Traveling to San Luis Obispo, the Menlo Park Legends went 1-2 against the SLO Blues, June 3 to 5.
Both the Legends and Blues went into the series evenly matched—both sat in second place in their respective CCL Divisions. Rather than big hits, both teams would get on base and score off errors. In this series, the Legends made seven errors while the Blues made six.
According to general manager David Klein, the change from Legends’ turf home field to Sinsheimer Stadium’s grass field was a significant factor as to why the Legends had a rocky first two games.
“Sometimes the dirt just eats us up a little bit and we are just used to the turf,” said Klein. “It is something we need to work on.”
Although the team lost 11-6 in game one to the Blues, the Legends put on quite the offensive performance by opening the game with some early scoring. In the top of the first, cleanup hitter John Montgomery started the hitting spree with a two RBI double to knock in Tobias Moreno and Robert Henry. Montgomery would later score off a single by Manny Menocal. Kyle Zirbes followed, scoring off a passed ball to give the Legends a four-run lead.
The Blues were able to answer back with five runs in the bottom of the inning. By the bottom of the fourth, the Blues extended their lead with an inside-the-park home run followed by three more runs to cap the inning with a four-run lead. The Legends were not able to string together enough hits to win the game against their CCL opponent.
In game two, the Legends left the field devastated after getting shut out 6-0. The team finished the game with more errors than hits.
Things started off shaky for the Legends as they switched pitchers three times before the fifth. In previous games, Legends’ starting pitchers gave no less then five innings before being relieved. In this game, five Legends pitchers would take the hill. The defense did not help as the Blues would score two of their six runs off errors.
The team’s offensive performance matched their defense as their bats were unable to make contact as the Legends were shut out for only the second time this season. Now, the Legends had to win game three in order to avoid getting swept in a series for the first time this season.
Thinking that they had the series in their pockets, the Blues felt the Legends’ wrath getting shut out 4-0 in game three. The Legends were able to redeem themselves with a strong pitching performance that kept Blues batters back on their heels while at the plate.
Hero of the series, Cameron Linck, commanded the strike zone for six solid innings, only giving up three hits while punching out eleven Blues batters to get the win.
“I just felt like I went out there and tried to execute my pitches by throwing them all strikes,” Linck said.
Linck credits his coach, Wild Bill, for preparing him for his performance. After watching how other Legends pitchers were handling the batters in the previous two games, Wild Bill helped Linck prepared for his start on the hill.
Relief pitchers Jackson Lancaster, Harrisen Egly, and Richard Peoples threw shutout ball for the next three innings—ringing up three batters and the Blues were unable to score off the Legends’ strong pitching performance.
Known for stealing bases and manufacturing runs, Tobias Moreno was able to break the ice and score off a wild pitch,to give the Legends the only run they would need in the fourth. The team’s offense capitalized again in the sixth after Kyle Zirbes scored off a RBI single by Justin Gubser. Robert Henry would assure a victory with a two RBI single to give the Legends a four-run lead.
“I worked into a 3-2 count which was perfect because the pitcher had to throw me a strike,” Henry said. “I just saw it deep and hit a soft base hit to center field.”
After a roller coaster three-game series, the Legends are coming home to Menlo Park with their bats swinging as they face the Bercovich Gold at Cañada College, July 7.
Photos by Lani Finer
