Legends Score 4 in 9th, Beat Merchants 7-6
Alameda, Calif. – The ebbs and flows of a baseball game can sometimes be hard to keep track of and difficult to explain. Wednesday’s afternoon affair between the Menlo Park Legends and the Alameda Merchants was one of the those games. Menlo Park blew a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh only to score four runs in the ninth inning without a single hit to beat Alameda 7-6 at the College of Alameda. The crazy ending to a crazy game helped the Legends improve to 3-1 on the young season while the Merchants fell to 4-3.
Menlo Park got on the board first with the first three runs of the games and appeared to be heading in the right direction. Scott Ota drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth, while Patrick McColl hit a sacrifice fly later that inning to double the lead. In the sixth inning, Tyler Nelin singled home Sean Watkins to give the Legends what appeared to be a comfortable three-run lead. The game appeared in good hands because Jameson Kruger (the Legends starting pitcher) and Kevin Hahn were dominant on the mound. Kruger tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts, and Hahn only gave up one run in his three innings of work with six punch-outs. Both pitchers did not allow a walk either, using great fastball command and sharp off-speed pitches to fool the Merchants’ hitters.
Things got crazy in the bottom of the seventh. Matt Bergandi came in to pitch for the Legends and failed to record an out during his five batter stint that featured four walks and an infield single. Turner Bishop came on after two runs had already scored and allowed a two-run single and a sacrifice fly as the Merchants scored five times in the frame to take a 6-3 lead. What hurt a little more was the fact that Alameda recorded only two hits in the inning to score five runs, something that does not happen all too often. With the Legends down three, they were running out of chances.
Then the top of the ninth inning happened. McColl led off with a walk but the Legends were down to their final out with a runner on first base. Steven McLean walked, Ryan Rosa walked, and RJ Williams walked to bring in a run and make it a 6-4 game. Sean Watkins stood in, already with three hits on the day. He hit a high chopper to the Merchants’ third baseman Marcus Williams that forced him to back up and fire a long throw across the diamond. His throw was off-line and rolled up the first base line and all the Legends came in to score with Watkins advancing to third. On what could have been the final out of the game, the Legends score three more runs and take a 7-6 lead. Calvin Riley, making his Legends debut, became the pitcher of record and threw the final two innings in scoreless fashion.
The Merchants and Legends return to action on Thursday at 6:00 PM for game two of the three game series. Game three will be played at Colts Field at Canada College as just the second home game of the year for Menlo Park. Both remaining games of the series can be found live on the Legends Radio Network.
