June 4, 2019

Irvine, CA

Caleb Denny (Arkansas) hit the inaugural home run of the 2019 CCL season, Connor Aoki (Binghamton) singled, doubled and drove in two runs and Dylan Rock (UTSA) singled, doubled and scored twice to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 6-3 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues toight at Great Park Stadium. Denny’s home run, a solo shot in the first inning, put the Riptide up 2-1 after San Luis Obispo scored once in the top of the inning when Ryan Cole (Notre Dame) singled to lead off the game and, after advancing to third on an error, scored on a passed ball, and Orange County tied the scored when Antonio Cruz (Rice) singled, stole second and eventually scored on a passed ball. After Denny’s home run, which came with two outs, Rock singled and Aoki doubled him home to make the score 3-1. Riptide starting pitcher Tyler Booth held the Blues in check for the next three and a third innings, despite allowing leadoff singles in both the third and fourth innings. Booth helped his own cause by picking off both runners in those innings and left the game after recording the first out in the fifth inning with the Riptide leading 4-1 as Rock and Aoki again combined to drive in a two-out run, this time Rock doubling and Aoki driving him home with a single in the third. The scored remained the same until the top of the seventh inning when Joshua Ramirez (Dominguez Hills) led off for the Blues with a single and eventually scored on a groundout to make the score 4-2, but Orange County immediately responded in their half of the inning when Chris Aubort (Hawaii Hilo) led off with a single, scored on a Carson Matthews (BYU) double, and Matthews scored on an error. TJ Rumfield (Texas Tech) tripled in the top of the eighth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly for San Luis, but that was as close as the Blues would get as Marrick Crouse came in to record the final out of the eighth and pitched around a walk and a single in the ninth to close the win out for the Riptide. Jack Hodgins (Hendrix College) struck out three in the eighth inning to highlight the Blues’ pitching. Tonight’s game was the first contest Orange County hosted at the Great Park Stadium, their new home after playing last season at Concordia University.

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Elsewhere around the CCL tonight:

Lincoln, CA

The Lincoln Potters erupted for seven runs in the fifth inning to overcome a 5-2 deficit and went on the beat the Healdsburg Prune Packers 9-6 tonight at McBean Stadium in Lincoln’s first game as an affiliate of the CCL. The Potters rallied with five hits in the fifth inning, including a two-run single by Anders Green and an RBI-double by Daniel Susac, and took advantage of two walks and three Healdsburg errors to take the lead 9-5. The Packers had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Kevin Sandri led off the game with a walk and scored from first on an RBI-double by Bryson Hill (Houston), and Travis Turney (Portland) led off the second inning with a walk and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice. Lincoln answered with two runs in their half of the second inning when Andrew Buglino doubled in Zachary Patterson (Ohlone) and Jordan Berry (Chochise JC), both of whom singled with two outs. Bryan Sturges (UTSA) hit a solo home run in the third inning to put Healdsburg back in front, and the Packers added two more in the top of the fifth on three walks and two errors to make the score 5-2. Then the Lincoln rally happened. Morgan White (Portland) singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch to get one more run for Healdsburg in the sixth inning, but Tyler Mead, the fourth pitcher of the game for Lincoln, came in to record the final out in the sixth in a bases-loaded situation, and retired seven of the eight batters he faced to hold the Packers in check before turning the pitching duties over to Grant Woodside who pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the Lincoln win. Healdsburg starting pitcher Tyler Thornton had a game-high five strikeouts in his three innings of work and did not figure in the decision, while Lincoln’s Nolan Young (Illinois St) was the only hitter to record a multiple-hit game (two singles).

*Stats for this game are not available as of post time, as both teams are still configuring their stats programs.