Bardo-Blast Hands Long Beach Comeback Win
The Long Beach Coast (36-11) slid past the Modesto Roadsters (27-20) on Saturday night in an 8-3 come-from-behind victory to secure the team’s 12th series win.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
|
|
0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 |
MODESTO, CA – The Long Beach Coast (36-11) slid past the Modesto Roadsters (27-20) on Saturday night in an 8-3 come-from-behind victory to secure the team’s 12th series win. Trailing for the first 7.2 frames, a string of nine base-runners in a 10-batter span across two innings played the largest role in the resurgence.
The biggest bash arrived in the ninth inning when right fielder Matthew Bardowell slugged a two-run homer to straightaway center. Three more runs crossed the plate in the ninth with a single from center fielder Emilio Corona, shortstop Patrick Roche’s RBI groundout, and a sacrifice fly from catcher Johnny Pappas.
In the theme of threes, the L.B.C. left the bases loaded three times, but the tide turned when the Coast cashed in during the eighth inning. Pappas batted with two outs and a runner on third in all four of his at-bats, finally jumping into the hit column with a two-run game-tying single. The Chino Hills-native momentarily paused the game in the sixth after taking a hard foul ball to the mask.
A sixth inning wild pitch jumped the Coast onto the board for the first time, scoring designated hitter Cuba Bess, and cutting the deficit to 3-1.
The early pitchers’ duel hurt the top of the Long Beach order with leadoff batter Eddy Pelc, two-spot Dylan Lina, and three-hitter Cooper Vest thrice recording outs in order for 1-2-3 innings.
Starter Nathan Hemmerling dealt his longest outing of the season at 6.1 IP, allowing three runs on eight hits. The Cal Baptist alumnus fired five strikeouts, marking his sixth appearance with at least 5 Ks.
Submarine pitcher Steven Ordorica erased two outs while only facing one batter, picking off pinch runner Michael Mugan to help end the seventh. After him, right-hander Gary Grosjean worked shutout frames with four strikeouts in the eighth and ninth to secure the victory and his third winning decision.
The Coast and Roadsters finish up the first half of the regular season with a matinee game starting at 11:00 a.m. PDT on Sunday. Long Beach has a chance to tie Oakland’s 2025 record for wins in the first half at 37. Coverage on the Coast YouTube channel and the Home Team Network begins at 10:40 a.m. with the Beach Ball Pre-Game Report.
Jesse Cook