The Palm Springs Power came, they saw, and they conquered their two opponents at Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday afternoon, improving their record to a staggering 8-0 to start off the season. After the hourlong trip from one Southern California valley to another, Casey Dill’s men dominated the Inland Valley Bucs and Inland Valley Pirates to the tune of a combined 22-7 throbbing over the doubleheader.
In game 1, Matt Porter surrendered four runs in the first inning, including the first home run allowed by a Power pitcher all year, but then settled down, and finished three innings before handing the ball off to Trae Robertson. The Wildcat came up big for the Power, going four innings for the first time this season, and earning the win in the box score. Thanks to two five-run innings and six RBI on four hits from Power superstar Noah Blythe, the offense starts churning out runs like an assembly line.
Michael Groves chipped in by following two of Blythe’s 2-RBI hits immediately with one of his own in each of the Power’s biggest innings of the game. Despite trailing 4-0 after the first inning, and seeing each of their first six batters retired on the night, the Power would put up a whopping 15 runs, rendering the game uncompetitive by the latest stages.
Anthony Angel made his season debut for the Power, going 0-4 with a hit by pitch in the 6th inning, and catcher Tyler Swan made his first start of the season, taking his base on balls three different times.
The Bucs’ first inning was all but forgotten by the time Kyle Mosely coaxed a 4-6-3 double play in the bottom of the ninth to end the game, with the Power coming out with a 15-6 victory.
Following a short break, the Power would take the field again, this time, against the Inland Valley Pirates, a team that had given Palm Springs some trouble over the previous two nights. However, it wouldn’t show on this day. The Power started off the scoring in the first inning, with Blythe driving in Jason Leon with an RBI groundout, and that was all that the Power needed for the first stage of the game.
Miles Haligan was completely dominant for the Power, with the best starting pitching performance of Palm Springs’ season. The Missouri State product pitched 6 shutout innings, striking out ten batters, including three swinging punch outs in the sixth inning, his final inning of work.
The Power got the assembly line going again in the 4th inning, scoring three runs without a hit thanks to some stellar discipline, drawing multiple walks on full counts. They once again put up three runs in the 7th, with Blythe picking up RBI numbers 8 and 9 on the day with a single.
The only run for the Pirates came unearned to pitcher Michael Groves in the bottom of the eighth inning when the game was all but over.
The scoreboard read 7-1 for the Power once the game finished, and it capped off a weekend in which the Power won four games in three days, asserting early season dominance over the California Premier Collegiate League.
You can come out to see the undefeated Power at Palm Springs Stadium on Tuesday night against the Inland Valley Bucs at 7:00 p.m.
