NORTH FINALS: VISALIA WINS IN BAKO, UP 2-0

Posted on September 8, 2014 by | Comments Off on NORTH FINALS: VISALIA WINS IN BAKO, UP 2-0

The Visalia Rawhide won the second game of the South Division Finals in Bakersfield on Sunday, and now will go home to Recreation Park to try to secure a berth in the Championship Series. Visalia’s 7-5 win over the Blaze put the Rawhide up 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

Visalia starter Spencer Arroyo got knocked around early, not making it out of the fourth inning as the Blaze took a 5-4 lead. But the Rawhide scored three runs in the top of the sixth and six relievers kept Bakersfield off the board the rest of the way.

VISALIA – 7
BAKERSFIELD – 5

John Omahen (VIS) – W, 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Kevin  Medrano (VIS) – 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 Runs
Andrew Velasquez (VIS) – 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI
Jeff Gelalich (BAK) – 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI

The series resumes tonight in Visalia with Bakersfield’s LHP Wandy Peralta facing the Rawhide’s RHP Brandon Sinnery.

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SOUTH FINALS: LANCASTER GOES UP 2-0

Posted on September 8, 2014 by | Comments Off on SOUTH FINALS: LANCASTER GOES UP 2-0

The Lancaster Jethawks held serve with a 5-2 victory over Inland Empire on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Division Finals series. Kent Emanuel went six innings, allowing just 2 ER while Danry Vasquez homered and knocked in two runs for the Jethawks.

INLAND EMPIRE – 2
LANCASTER – 5

Kent Emanuel (LAN) – 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Danry Vasquez (LAN) – 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
Sherman Johnson (IE) – 2-for-3, HR, 2 Runs

The series moves to Inland Empire tonight with the  Jethawks sending RHP Kyle Westwood to the mound in search of the series sweep against the 66ers’ RHP Austin Wood.

 

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SOUTH FINALS: LANCASTER 7-3 OVER INLAND EMPIRE

Posted on September 7, 2014 by | Comments Off on SOUTH FINALS: LANCASTER 7-3 OVER INLAND EMPIRE

lancasterjethawksnewThe Lancaster Jethawks took game 1 of the South division finals with a 7-3 win over the Inland Empire 66ers. The matchup of the last two California League champions saw Vincent Velasquez go six innings, allowing two earned runs, while Lancaster put up all seven runs over the first four innings.

Ronnie Mitchell and Chase McDonald both homered for the Jethawks while the 66ers could only muster four hits against Velasquez and two relievers.

INLAND EMPIRE – 3
LANCASTER – 7

Vincent Velasquez (LAN) – W, 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K
Daniel Minor (LAN) – 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Chase McDonald (LAN) – 3-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs
Chris O’Grady (IE) – 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Mark Shannon (IE) – 1-for-4, RBI

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NORTH FINALS: RAWHIDE OVER BAKERSFIELD 10-5

Posted on September 7, 2014 by | Comments Off on NORTH FINALS: RAWHIDE OVER BAKERSFIELD 10-5

VRThe Visalia Rawhide took the opening game of the Division Finals with a 10-5 road win over Bakersfield. Rudy Flores hit a pair of homers and Alex Glenn, George Roberts and Jose  Queliz all went deep as the Rawhide struck first in the series.

The Blaze held a 5-4 edge going to the top of the seventh innings, but Visalia put up six runs over the last three innings to get the win. Blayne Weller went 5 1/3 innings and four Rawhide relievers were not scored upon the rest of the way.

VISALIA – 10
BAKERSFIELD – 5

Joey Krehbiel (VIS) – 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Rudy Flores (VIS) – 3-for-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI
George Roberts (VIS) – 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
Sean Buckley (BAK) – 2-for-5, HR
Zach Vincej (BAK) – 2-for-5, 2B, RBI

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VISALIA, INLAND EMPIRE SWEEP

Posted on September 5, 2014 by | Comments Off on VISALIA, INLAND EMPIRE SWEEP

The Visalia Rawhide finished off a mini-series sweep of the powerful Stockton Ports with a 2-1 win Thursday night to advance to the Division Finals against Bakersfield.

The Inland Empire 66ers did the same as they went 13 innings to pull off a 5-4 win over Lake Elsinore and advance to the Division Finals against Lancaster.

VISALIA – 2
STOCKTON – 1

Andrew Barbosa (VIS) – W, 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Rudy Flores (VIS) – 2-for-4, HR (2)
Socrates Brito (VIS) – 2-for-4, 1 Run
Chris Lamb (STK) – 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Brendan McCurry (STK) – 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Jaycob Brugman (STK) – 2-for-3, 1 Run

LAKE ELSINORE – 4
INLAND EMPIRE – 5

Clint  Sharp (IE) – 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Danny Miranda (IE) – 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Anthony Bemboom (IE) – 3-for-6, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Dennis Raben (IE) – 2-for-5, 1 Run
Elliot Morris (LE) – 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Alberth Martinez (LE) – 3-for-6, 2B, 3B, RBI, 2 Runs
Benji Gonzalez (LE) – 2-for-5, RBI, 1 Run scored

The Division Finals start on Saturday:

INLAND EMPIRE @ LANCASTER – 6PM
VISALIA @ BAKERSFIELD – 7:15PM

 

 

 

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RAWHIDE, 66ERS WIN PLAYOFF OPENERS

Posted on September 4, 2014 by | Comments Off on RAWHIDE, 66ERS WIN PLAYOFF OPENERS

Steve McQuail went deep three times as the Visalia Rawhide roughed up the Stockton Ports for a 13-3 win in the North division playoff opener in Visalia Wednesday night. Brandon Sinnery went six innings, allowing three earned runs, and then Keith Hessler and Johnny Shuttlesworth went three scoreless innings out of the Rawhide bullpen to seal the win.

STOCKTON – 3
VISALIA – 13
Visalia leads series, 1-0

Brandon Sinnery (VIS) 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Johnny Shuttlesworth (VIS) – 2 IP, 2  H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Steve McQuail (VIS) – 4-for-5, 3 HR, 5 RBI
Rudy Flores (VIS) – 2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI
Matt Olson (STK) – 3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI
Beau Taylor (STK) – 2-for-2, HR,

In the South division mini series, Inland Empire came from behind late with two runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth to post a 4-2 win over Lake Elsinore.

INLAND EMPIRE – 4
LAKE ELSINORE – 2
Inland Empire leads series 1-0

Dennis Raben (IE) – 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 Runs scored
Raymond Hanson (IE) – 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Jeremy Baltz (LE) – 1-for-3, BB, RBI
Bryan Rodriguez (LE) – 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – SHERMAN JOHNSON, INLAND EMPIRE

Posted on September 3, 2014 by | Comments Off on OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – SHERMAN JOHNSON, INLAND EMPIRE
Photo:MiLB.com

Photo:MiLB.com

Sherman Johnson stayed hot after winning this award just two weeks ago. This time, the second baseman out of Florida State slashed .469/.541/1.031 with five longballs and nine RBIs. He was a huge part of the 66ers’ surge to the second-half title. Over the last 10 games of the season, Johnson batted .405 and scored 12 runs as Inland Empire made the playoffs.

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PITCHER OF THE WEEK – MATT FLEMER, MODESTO

Posted on September 3, 2014 by | Comments Off on PITCHER OF THE WEEK – MATT FLEMER, MODESTO
Photo: MiLB.com

Photo: MiLB.com

Matt Flemer threw a four-hit shutout against Stockton to post his 13th win, second most in the Cal League. The right-hander from Cal stuck out nine and didn’t walk anybody in the season finale. It was a rough year for Modesto in the standings, but Flemer provided consistency over his 165 innings pitched. In each of his last four outings he went at least seven innings, walking just two and striking out 30 while going 3-1.

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OLSON, DAHL FEATURED IN FANGRAPHS STORY

Posted on September 1, 2014 by | Comments Off on OLSON, DAHL FEATURED IN FANGRAPHS STORY
Photo: Steve Cummings/CalLeagueHeat.com

Photo: Steve Cummings/CalLeagueHeat.com

Stockton’s Matt Olson and Modesto’s David Dahl are part of David Laurila’s SUNDAY NOTES piece tonight on Fangraphs.com. Olson leads the Cal League in homers with 37 and has walked a lofty 117 times, which pushes is OBP to .405. He checks in as the Oakland A’s #2 prospect by MLB.com’s rankings.

Dahl is the #10 overall pick from the 2012 draft and he slashed .302/.341/.496 for the lo-A Asheville Tourists in 89 games this season. Dahl played 29 games in Modesto before heading back to  Asheville this week. Laurila’s piece has several quotes from the Alabama native.

FanGraphs.com is an invaluable resource of analytical baseball features. The way to look at this game is  up to the consumer. You can take a nostalgic view (none of these guys can carry Mantle’s jock) and you can go strictly by the number-crunching ideology (WAR, etc.) Fangraphs asks pertinent questions, researches appropriately to get to answers, and does it all with an approach that would be enjoyable if you had the conversation with its writers in the bleachers. You can take a break to grab a soda mid-article. Watch an AB. The intelligent baseball discourse is always there. My favorite site, as you can tell.

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66ers ARE IN, WILL DEFEND 2013 TITLE

Posted on September 1, 2014 by | Comments Off on 66ers ARE IN, WILL DEFEND 2013 TITLE

IE 66ersThe Inland Empire 66ers became improbable second-half champions of the South division tonight with their third straight road win against Lancaster. With the 9-5 victory, Inland Empire clinched at least a tie for the division title.

The South was a .500-fest in the second half, and the 66ers’ late surge was good enough to force no worse than a tie with Lake Elsinore, should the Storm win on Monday while IE loses. But, per California League playoff procedures, the fact that the possible tie atop the division is with the Storm, which is already assured a playoff spot via the “best overall record” qualification, there would be no tie-breaker. Inland Empire is in:

“An additional regular-season game to determine the Second-half Champion or No. 3 Seed will be played only if a playoff berth is at stake, and it will be played on the day after the regular season concludes. If the tying teams are already assured of a playoff spot (Lake Elsinore is), then a game will not be played and the seeding will be determined by the tiebreaking procedure.”

That last sentence, regarding the seeding, yields the following provisos:

“In the case of a two-way tie for a half champion or overall best record (No. 3 Seed), the home team for the playoff game will be determined using the following criteria:

  • 1) Head-to-Head record
  • 2) Winning percentage within the division
  • 3) Winning percentage versus third-place club(s)
  • 4) Winning percentage versus fourth-place club(s)
  • 5) Winning percentage versus fifth-place club
  • 6) Winning percentage versus other Division
  • 7) Coin flip”

So, let’s see the slate of season finales on the holiday Monday and find out where the cards fall. Here’s what we have at this point:

NORTH DIVISION

Visalia (wildcard) and Stockton (2nd half champion) in the mini series.
Bakersfield (1st-half champion) plays the winner.

SOUTH DIVISION

Lake Elsinore (wildcard) and Inland Empire (2nd half champion) in the mini series.
Lancaster (1st half champion) plays the winner.

One more day of a full California League schedule and then, starting Wednesday…

IT’S PLAYOFF TIME!

 

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