Report By Josh Feldman Of The Armada
Long Beach had an season-opening series win in the crosshairs, but couldn’t pull the trigger as the Vipers used a 9-run fourth inning to slither past the Armada, 12-10, at Foothill Stadium on Saturday.
Long Beach (1-2) made it close in the top of the ninth. Right fielder Jonathan Kaplan, who was activated earlier in the day, cut the four-run Viper lead in half with a two-run homerun over the left field wall. After Kaplan’s blast, a single from Matt Edgecombe and walks to Steve Young and Josh Womack gave the Fleet a chance to win with the bases loaded and two outs. Closer Jon Huizinga struck out shortstop Omar Bramasco to end the game.
The Vipers (2-1) found themselves in a big hole before the snakes sent 12 batters to the plate in the 4th inning. Long Beach strung together a 7-run 3rd inning, highlighted by a Chad Miller’s 3-run homerun (2), his second is as many nights.
Catcher David Ramirez was hit by a pitch to start the 3rd inning, and second baseman Steve Young singled him over to second. Womack laid down a bunt toward third, and the first of three errors in the inning by Vipers third baseman Carlos Duncan allowed Ramirez to score. Omar Bramasco singled to drive in Young, and two batters later, Miller went deep again.
First baseman Daryl Jones and Jonathan Kaplan also scored in the inning on a 2-RBI single by designated hitter Matt Edgecombe. The Fleet chased Vipers starter Dallas Mahan (0-0) from the game after 2.1 innings. Mahan gave up 8 hits and 7 runs, but only 1 run was earned as a result of the three errors by Duncan in the inning.
Armada starter Scott Lonergan (0-1) took the loss. He walked the lead off man in the 4th inning and gave up a single to the second batter he faced. Vipers Rick Guarno, Drew Miller and Terry Mermer strung together three doubles in four at-bats to pull Calgary to 7-5. Second baseman Jorge Mejia capped the inning with a 3-RBI triple to make it 10-7.
Calgary reliever Reggie Rivard (1-0) earned the win in just over an inning of work as the pitcher of record when the Vipers surged back.
The Armada and Vipers play the final game of the season-opening four-game series Sunday at 12:35pm. LHP Keith Ramsey gets the start for the Armada against RHP Hideki Nagasaka. The game broadcast can be heard live through www.longbeacharmada.com with the pre-game show starting at 12:20pm.