Report By Marcelo Figueroa

Scott Lonergan (5-5) pitched his first complete game of the season, finishing the night with four strikeouts and a walk, allowing just three runs on eight hits to lead the Fleet to a 7-3 victory on Sunday at Blair Field. Long Beach is now 11-14 in the second half and 31-32 overall.

Lonergan started the game with a rough couple innings, allowing three runs on six hits over the first two frames to fall behind 3-0. But he bounced back nicely from that point forward, giving up just two more hits the rest of the way and no additional runs to Yuma.

Long Beach scored its first run in the home half of the second. Yuma starter Reynaldo Correal surrendered back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases. With one out, Ramirez grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Napoleon Calzado from third to cut the Yuma lead to 3-1 at the end of two innings.

The Armada claimed its first lead of the night in the bottom of the fourth with a four-run inning. With one out and Matt Edgecombe at first, a single from Brandon Howard followed by a Ramirez double drove in Edgecombe. Long Beach then took advantage of a defensive miscue when Yuma center fielder Diover Avila dropped a Josh Womack fly ball, allowing both runners to move up 90 feet to tie the game up at 3-3. Jonny Kaplan then grounded out to shortstop, bringing in Ramirez from third to give the Fleet a 4-3 lead. And Omar Bramasco hit a two-out single to drive in Womack and push the lead to 5-3 at the end of the fourth inning.

Long Beach added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Womack led off the inning with a double and two outs later Steve Moss cashed him in with a base hit. At the end of six innings the score was Long Beach 6, Yuma 3.

But the Armada offense wasn’t finished for the night. In the home half of the seventh the Fleet scored its seventh run of the night. With two outs and the bases empty, Long Beach strung together back-to-back-to-back singles to score Howard for the second time, extending the lead to 7-3 at the end of seven innings.

Long Beach next plays Tuesday night at Blair Field when it hosts the St. George Roadrunners. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.