PALM SPRINGS, CA- Jordan Dreibelbis was magnificent in his first start for the Palm Springs POWER (2-1) Sunday night.
Dreibelbis tossed 6.2 innings and only gave up two earned runs to a So Cal Catch team that scored 13 runs in the previous two games.
He really wanted that final out for an even seven innings:
“I told Harry to let me get this guy,” said Dreibelbis. “He left me in for a while and gave me a chance.”
Tyler Laporte put the POWER on the board in the second inning when he doubled home Willie Bourbon.
After the POWER took a 1-0 lead, Dreibelbis allowed a double and single to start the inning. The Catch didn’t manage a hit after that in the inning but a run scored on a balk.
In the 3rd inning, So Cal Catch starting pitcher Jake Lochner walked the first two batters and the POWER took advantage. Ryan Mota sacrificed Sauceda and Mauldin to third and second respectively. Cody Ducote’s sac fly scored the first run of the inning and Willie Bourbon knocked Mauldin home with a double to make it 3-1 POWER.
Head coach Casey Dill was happy with his team’s approach at the plate.
“You can attest that to our guys being patient at the plate,” said Dill. “It’s easy to go up there and help the opposing team’s pitcher out. We were patient. We took our balls and walks and got big hits with runners on base.”
Lochner’s control issues reared their ugly head yet again in the 4th inning when Bronson Grubbs coaxed a two-out walk and later scored on a wild pitch to add to the POWER lead.
James Goodwin took over on the mound in the fifth and nothing changed for the Catch. Goodwin hit the first batter and walked the next. LSU Tiger Cody Ducote stepped up and smashed an RBI single up the middle. Kaleb Foster walked to drive in a run and Grubbs followed with a two-run single to give the POWER an 8-1 advantage.
Regardless of what pitcher the So Cal Catch used, the result was the same.
Caleb MacPherson came in to relieve Goodwin and walked three of the first four batters he faced. Another wild pitch led to the POWER’s 9th run of the game which gave them a seven-run cushion.
Jimmy Gallarda and Zack Davis drove in runs in the eighth inning and the Catch added another in the ninth but it wasn’t enough.
The POWER are off tomorrow night but welcome the Inland Valley Pirates to the ballpark on Tuesday night for $1 Beer Night.
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