Legends Drop Heartbreaker to Blues 8-7 in Series Opener
San Luis Obispo, Calif. – For the second time in three weekends, the Legends made a trip down to Southern California to take on a California Collegiate League opponent. This time, the San Luis Obispo Blues were the opposition in the first of a three-game series that is important for both sides. Menlo Park entered the series having won three consecutive conference games, pushing them back up the standings towards the middle of the pack. An early deficit saw things looking grim for the Legends, but after tying the game late, the Blues would walk it off in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 8-7. Menlo Park fell to 15-8-1 this summer while the Blues pushed above the .500 mark and raise their record to 12-11.
Jacob Wilcox was on the m0und for the Legends and was bitten by a few big innings: the second and the sixth. In both frames, he allowed three runs and in the second, it all came with two outs and Menlo Park in front. The Legends had scored twice in the top of the frame to go up 2-1, and with one runner on and two outs, Wilcox seemed to be in pretty good shape. A hit batter and two singles later, the Blues had tacked on three runs against the left hander, and Menlo Park would not see the lead for some time. Wilcox got into more trouble and was chased in the sixth after three more runs came in to score after a double, triple, and single allowed. Wilcox needed 107 pitches to get through 5.1 innings, but he did throw 70 of them for strikes. He allowed 9 hits, walked 3, and struck out 5 and left trailing 7-3.
Menlo Park would finally break out the heavy artillery in the top of the eighth by opening the inning with three consecutive baserunners. Chandler Bengston opened up with a walk, Justin Jacobs singled, and Steven McLean singled home Bengston’s pinch runner Cristopher Castillo to make it a three-run game. RJ Williams would follow with a well-executed sacrifice bunt to move both runners up, but the Blues pitcher errantly threw to first base and allowed an extra 90-feet for every baserunner, which allowed Justin Jacobs to score. Sean Watkins drove home one with an RBI-groundout to short. 7-6, but now there were two outs. In stepped Nick Brooks, who has been a dangerous hitter all summer long and continued that run with a double to score Williams and tie the game in the eighth.
The ninth inning would see the Blues score the winning run in unordinary fashion. With one out, Garrett Dodd reached first base after striking out, but since strike three was a wild pitch, he was able to scamper down to first base to record the rare on-base appearance. He stole second and raced to third after a throwing error from catcher Tyler Nelin. Just one pitch later, he scored on a wild pitch from reliever Calvin Riley and that ended the ball game. One run without a ball being put into play and the Blues happily took game one of the series in their home park.
The series between the Legends and Blues continues on Saturday as the teams face off for game two with first pitch slated for 6:00 PM at Sinsheimer Park. The broadcast is being produced by the Blues and can be found at www.bluesbaseball.com.
