By: Jack Grimse
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.-
While it took eleven innings and almost three-and-a-half hours, the Palm Springs POWER eventually triumphed on Court Iorg’s walk-off double on Tuesday night.
It started off well for the home team, as they opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Nick Jackson was the first one in, as a soft liner off the bat of Dylan Garcia found some room in shallow left field. Garcia and Connor Hornsby would score on a clutch two-out base hit by Palm Desert High School product Jonathan Serven.
Answering straightaway with a run of their own were the Saints, manufacturing a run in the top of the fourth. That was all the scoring for Arroyo Seco until the sixth inning, when they exploded to put a four-spot on the scoreboard.
He was in line for the win, but POWER starter Jeremy Alderman left the game with the bases loaded and the bullpen wasn’t able to get the job done initially. He still finished with three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Matt Valencia allowed just a run in 2 1/3 innings of work.
Relieving Saints starter Kyle Merkel was Chris Davidson. He was brilliant for the first 1 2/3 innings.
Birthday boy Dillan Smith had a fantastic evening at the dish. He started out with three singles, and using his good speed to prove a nuisance on the basepaths yet again. He was replaced by Kobie Foppe, who pushed his hitting streak to 12 games with a line drive to center field in the bottom of the seventh.
Serven struck again with two away, reducing the deficit to two. His single in the home half of the seventh plated Hornsby, and Foppe scored on an infield single by Ian McLoughlin, closing the gap to one.
Jordan Cavazos replaced Valencia with two gone in the eighth. He struck out Andres Kim on four pitches, staying in for the ninth inning.
Leveling the score in the bottom of the frame were the POWER, with a Garcia driving in Jackson from second for the second time. They had the chance to take the lead in the bottom of the ninth.
Hornsby reached on a single, and Foppe moved him to third. McLoughlin tried to get a bunt down for a suicide squeeze play, but pitcher Davidson made a great flip to catcher Justin Bardwell.
Both Davidson and Cavazos worked scoreless ninth innings for their teams. The tenth was not as kind to the Arroyo Seco lefty.
Ryan Raslowsky and Daniel Sander both singled with one down in the ninth, bringing up Miles Bice. An amazing play was made at first base by Grant Woodwind, sliding to stop a rocket line drive by Bice, but Sander moved to second and Raslowsky got to third.
Hornsby was walked intentionally, and Foppe came to the plate with the bases juiced. But he flied out to right field, and the game continued.
After another scoreless inning by Cavazos, the POWER would finally finish the Saints off. Serven led off with his fourth single of the day. It raised his batting average from .256 to .313. A sacrifice bunt by McLoughlin moved him to second. Iorg came up to bat, and smashed a double deep to left field to drive in the winning run.
Cavazos picked up the win, improving to 5-0 and maintaining his perfect 0.00 ERA. He allowed just one hit over 3 1/3 innings. Davidson took the loss, throwing 6 2/3 innings and allowing four runs.
That was win number 20 for the POWER, and they are now 13 games above .500. The Saints fell to 13-5.
Wednesday night will be the series finale as the POWER go for the sweep in game two. First pitch is at 7:05 and admission is just one dollar for Family Appreciation Night, brought to you by Jack in the Box.
