Hemmerling's Longest Start Walks 3-2 Tightrope Win Over Mobiles

LONG BEACH, CA – The Long Beach Coast (46-13) scraped a 3-2 victory by the RedPocket Mobiles (13-46) to clinch the weekend series victory on Saturday night. Coast starter Nathan Hemmerling both captivated the fans and captured the Mobiles’ bats for the first 6.2 innings, no-hitting “The Mob” before a shallow hit fell in no-man’s land.

The second-year Pioneer Leaguer dealt a season-high seven frames, allowing two runs on two hits, and striking out nine batters. Reliever Gary Grosjean replaced Hemmerling midway through the eighth inning, retiring the side.

A rally in the fourth frame carried Long Beach to victory with closer Zach Voelker’s league-best 13th save holding the line in the ninth.

That fourth inning started with three-consecutive base runners and five-straight productive plate appearances. First baseman Cooper Vest led off with a walk before designated hitter Cuba Bess doubled him to third base. Center fielder Emilio Corona barreled Vest home with a double. Third baseman Benjamin Rosengard laid down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to score Bess. Second baseman Jacob Jablonski hammered home Corona with a single.

Saturday night marks the second time the L.B.C. won a ballgame while scoring fewer than four runs. Prior to Friday’s walkoff win, the Coast marked an 0-2 record when mounting three runs or less. That trend flipped to a 2-2 record in that scenario.

Long Beach remains undefeated at home when rebranding in the “Regulators” uniforms at 8-0 with back-to-back victories in the black-and-white threads against the Mobiles.

The series wraps to its finish on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PDT with gates at Blair Field opening at 12:05 p.m. Coverage on the Home Team Network and Coast YouTube channel begins at 12:45 p.m.

Jesse Cook