By Josh Miller
PALM SPRINGS, CA — The POWER defeated the High Desert Heat 3-2 at Palm Springs Stadium on Wednesday night, clinching the No.1 seed in the SCCBL playoffs starting next week.
POWER starter Trent Armstrong (Arkansas Tech) picked up the win, his first of the season, going five innings and allowing one run on seven hits with two strikeouts.
Adam Quintana (Peru State), who defeated the POWER on Friday night, took the loss and went six innings allowing three runs (2 ER) on three hits with nine strikeouts.
The Heat struck first in the top of the fourth inning when Kurtis Kloke (San Bernardino Valley College) singled home Ronnie Leon (William Penn) after his leadoff double.
In the bottom of the inning, the POWER took the lead after Ino Patron (Long Beach State University) scored on a wild pitch and Jake Howeth (Texas Wesleyan University) scored the go-ahead run on a Bobby Kramer (Weatherford College) RBI single.
With runners on first and second and no outs in the top of the sixth, Nick Medeiros (Santa Clara) came on in relief of Armstrong and struck out the side to kill the Heat rally.
The POWER tacked on another run in the sixth when Scotty Burcham (Sacramento State University) scored after an error was committed in right field on a Nick King (Georgia) fly ball.
The Heat would get within one cutting the lead to 3-2 on an RBI single by Sergio Lujan.
Medeiros was simply brilliant in four innings of relief allowing one run (0 ER) on two hits with nine strikeouts for the four-inning save, his first of the season.
“Our offense did a great job tonight, Trent kept us in it all night, great team win, and I’m excited for this playoff run,” said Medeiros after the game. “It’s a great group of guys and I think we have a great chance to win it all.”
The POWER are off tomorrow but are back in action on Friday for the first of three against the San Francisco Seals.
There are also fireworks after the game so the first pitch will be bumped to 6:35.
The POWER play their first playoff game on the road on Tuesday against either the Inland Valley Pirates or Team San Diego.
