Legends Blank Long Beach 9-0, Sweep Series
Redwood City, Calif. – Menlo Park put together one of their most complete team games of the summer, blanking the Long Beach Legends 9-0. It was also the Legends debut for pitcher Tyler Ivey who did not disappoint in his first time donning the green and gold, or green and black should I say (the Legends opted to wear their black uniforms tonight). No errors, no runners thrown out on the bases, a lot of hits, and sterling pitching was the recipe for success on this night to take both games of the series against Long Beach. Menlo Park improves to 11-5-1 this summer while Long Beach is now 10-12-1.
The scoring got going early for Menlo Park as Justin Jacobs wasted little time leading off the home half of the first with a double. He would come around to score two batters later on a Tyler Nelin double that gave the Legends the lead and they would never look back. Later in the inning, Sean Watkins followed with an RBI-groundout, and Patrick McColl provided a two-run single that glanced off the glove of the second baseman for Long Beach. Four runs in, one inning complete.
That would be all Tyler Ivey would need to be on cruise control for his six innings of work. Using a fastball that topped out at 93 MPH, a tight slider and a nasty changeup, Ivey was in complete command against the bats of Long Beach. He did not allow the first hit of the game until the fourth inning and it would be the only hit he allowed in his six innings of work, scattering two walks along with seven strikeouts. All seven of his punch outs were of the swinging variety, showing that he had elusive stuff all game long. If watching him, it would have been easy to think the right-hander was pitching in a 1-0 ballgame. Not a bad way to begin your summer with Menlo Park.
The bats came back alive for Menlo Park in the bottom of the third inning, and once again it was Patrick McColl providing a run-scoring hit that extended the lead. His single with nobody out scored Chandler Bengston and put the home team up by five. Scott Ota hit into a fielder’s choice that scored a run, and Jacobs added a sacrifice run. Another crooked inning, a 7-0 lead for Menlo Park. Ryan Rosa drove home the final runs of the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth, and Legends pitching would take over from there. Alexander Hernandez finished it off for Menlo Park by pitching the final three innings of the ballgame in clean fashion, and earned the save in the process.
Menlo Park returns to action tomorrow at Canada College as they welcome in the Pacific Union Financial Capitalists for the first of a two game series, with game two being at Palo Alto High School. First pitch is at 1:00 on Saturday, and coverage will be provided on the Legends Radio Network.
