Jerome Williams Start Previews Hectic Knockout Round Loss

LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Coast (44-13) suffered a Knockout Round 10-10 loss to the Oakland Ballers (24-33) on Thursday night after pitching coach Jerome Williams drew fans to the ballpark for a statement start. After 11 seasons in Major League Baseball and 10 years since his last big league appearance, the 1999 first round draft pick dealt a no-hit first inning for Long Beach, striking out one batter.

The scheduled starter Garrett Van Deventer relieved him for the next four innings allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits with a pair of Ks. Further out of the pen, reliever Gary Grosjean allowed three runs in the sixth inning on three hits. Left-hander Jake Dixon surrendered one unearned run in an inning of work. Submariner Steven Ordorica followed with a shutout performance in the eighth. Right-hander Zach Voelker entered a tied ballgame in the ninth and held the line with a pair of strikeouts in the scoreless outing.

The first of the three lead changes arrived in a six-run rally for Long Beach in the second frame. Down a run, six hits across 12 batters carried the Coast into the lead. Both second baseman Patrick Roche and designated hitter Cooper Vest tagged two-run knocks on the way into the advantage.

A five-run surge evened the score for Oakland in the fifth inning. A string of four walks and a hit batsman pulled Long Beach back ahead in the bottom half of that frame. In the top of the sixth, a two-out rally pushed the B’s into a 9-8 lead with four Ballers reaching base in a row. Right fielder Jacob Jablonski again flipped the script in the L.B.C.’s favor with a two-run homer in the bottom of that frame.

Oakland re-tied the contest in the top of the eighth to force the Knockout Round. Rookie Tristan Moore hit the only homer in that home run derby after a couple scoreless rounds to win it for the visitors, making the Ballers the first team to win a series over the Coast at Blair Field.

Left fielder Eddy Pelc set a team record with five walks, pulling to just three shy of the Pioneer League mark of 86 (set by Evan Scavotto of the Grand Junction Jackalopes in 2025). The L.B.C. managed a season-high 15 free passes, four of which the B’s granted as intentional walks.

Long Beach hosts the traveling RedPocket Mobiles for three contests over the weekend starting on Friday with a 6:35 p.m. PDT first pitch. Gates open at 5:35 p.m., and coverage begins on the Home Team Network and Coast YouTube page at 6:15 p.m. with the Beach Ball Pre-Game Report.

Jesse Cook