Report By Marcelo Figueroa 

Long Beach took advantage of Victoria starter James Garcia’s ineffectiveness to score five runs in the bottom of the 3rd to propel the Fleet to an 11-4 win Sunday evening at Blair Field. Kris Honel picked up his third win for the Armada (3-1) to improve the club’s record to 19-18 in the second half and 39-36 overall.

The Fleet did its part to try and make the playoffs, but St. George did not. They had to win the final two games of the season against the Toros for the Fleet to clinch a playoff spot, but they lost Sunday night to end their chances.

With Long Beach leading 2-1, J.J. Sherrill and Andy Bouchie drew back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the 3rd. One out later Jonny Kaplan and Asif Shah both walked to load the bases for Josh Womack. Womack hit a fielder’s choice that allowed Sherrill to score, pushing the lead to 3-1. Brandon Howard then walked to extend the lead to 4-1. Asif Shah came in to score on a wild pitch from Garcia, making it 5-1 Long Beach. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Omar Bramasco singled for the third time in the game to plate Womack and Howard. At the end of three innings of play, the Armada led the Seals 7-1.

Kris Honel went the required five innings to pick up the win. His stat line at the end of the game was 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 Ks. After the 5th inning Scott Watson, Justin Segal and the recently activated Sean Buller pitched effectively to close out the ball game for the Fleet, allowing just one run through four innings of work.

Garcia had a rough day at the office for the Seals. Through six innings of work, he allowed 11 runs on nine hits, walking 11 and hitting three more batters. He threw 141 pitches on the night, 74 for balls and 67 for strikes.

Offensively for the Fleet, Bramasco went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and was hit by a pitch. Asif Shah also had a great night at the plate. He hit his first homer of the year and finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

Scott Lonergan will take the hill for the Fleet Monday night in the regular season finale at Blair Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.