WEEK # 2  GAME # 3   

CONCORD GRAPE at LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLERS                                  
Jordan Westburg slammed a homerun and Clarke Schmidt delivered 5 solid innings at Centennial Field where the Las Vegas High Rollers beat the Concord Grape in 12 innings 4 to 3.

The game was deadlocked at 3 after nine full innings. Las Vegas won the hard-fought contest in the 12th inning. After an out was recorded, Heliot Ramos doubled. One out later, Richie Palacios stepped up to the plate and he smacked a single resulting in a mighty exciting win for Las Vegas and the 48,156 hometown fans in attendance.

Concord was out-hit by Las Vegas, 12 hits to 5.  Jason Foley (1-0) was the winner allowing no runs in 1 inning. Adrian Morejon (0-1) was given the loss in relief. He allowed 1 hit and no walks in 1/3 of an inning.

Las Vegas pitching continued to impress with "double-digit" strikeouts of the opposition.  For the Series... Vegas Pitchers walked 9 Batters and fanned a total of 32 "Sour" Grape "Faux" Hitters!!"

Albany Internationals

7-5 in home April. 

BUSTER'S BATTALION at ALBANY INTERNATIONALS
 
3-3 in (1) run games. No need for fingernail clippers for a while....

Busters Battalion wins the opening season series 2 games to 1 

Battalions........    0 2 0   0 1 2   0 2 0  -  7 11  0     
Internationals...   0 0 0   0 0 1   0 0 1  -  2   6  1     

Skenes goes 8 innings with 10K's and 3 hits allowed. O'neill hits 2 HR's.
 

Battalions......   0 0 0   0 1 0   0 0 0  1 -  2  5  1 
Internationals.. 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 1  0 -  1  7  0      

Houck pitches a Shutout into the 8th. The home team rallies in 9th with chance to win. Devers SAC fly in 10th seals the win.

Battalions......     0 0 0  0 0 0   0 0 0   -   0  2  0
Internationals...  0 0 0  1 0 1   0 0  x  -   2  2  0         

Seeing a trend here. Wheeler:8IP-2H-13Ks. Morton pitches a No-No
over 5!! Home team makes the most of their 4 base runners. Bohm HR enough for the win.

GILEAD GUNSLINGERS at ALBANY INTERNATIONALS

Home team feasts on Gilead pitching. Gunslingers avoid the broom with dramatic game three win.

Gunslingers.....  0 1 0    0 1 0    0 0 0  -  2   8  0       
Internationals..  1 5 0    0 0 0    2 0 x   -  8 13  0
 

Gibson chased early. Bohm stays hot. Follows Buster game 3 game winner with 2 more bombs. 

Gunslingers.....  3 1 0   1 0 0   0 1 0  -  6 13  0       
Internationals..  0 0 0   0 2 3   2 0 x   -  7 13  0
 

Gunslinger bullpen implodes costing Feltner a shot at the win. Montas's 1st of (gulp)30+ starts as bad as his card portends.

Gunslingers.....  0 0 3   3 0 1   0 1 3  - 11 13  0     
Internationals..  4 0 0   0 4 2   0 0 0  - 10 11  0

Soto 3 run HR in 9th. Men on 1st and 2B, 0 outs. Next time he gets the Barry Bonds treatment and INT BB!

MISSISSIPPI BIG ORANGE at ALBANY INTERNATIONALS
 

Frankie MontLosS ipitches true to 2024 form in game 1 before Darvish and Musgrove right the home team ship against a game Big Orange assemblage

Big Orange......  0 4 0   3 1 0   0 0 1  -  9 13  0       

Internationals..   0 1 0   0 2 0   4 0 0  -  7 12  1

Machado's clutch hitting and Bohm's rally inducing error just enough to thwart home team comeback

Big Orange...... 1 0 0   1 0 0   0 0 0  -  2   5  0       

Internationals.. 3 0 1   2 0 2   0 0  x  -  8 12  0
 

Ohtani does his thing (2-4 with HR), but Bohm's redeeming 3 hit, 4RBI game and 4th HR of the young season seals the win.

Big Orange......  0 0 0  1 0 0   0 0 0  -   1  4  1       

Internationals..  0 2 0   0 2 2   0 0 x   -  6  9  1
 

Musgrove lowers his home ERA to 1.93 and another Orange rookie hurler (Bido) is rudely welcomed to the Big Leagues.

(3) 3-2 games decided by the bullpens. Albany finishes with 8 runs, 19 hits; Tacoma 7 runs, 19 hits! 

TACOMA RAIDERS at ALBANY INTERNATIONALS

Tacoma Raiders...........  0 0 0    2 0 0   0 0 0  -   2  8  0       

Albany Internationals...  0 0 0   0 0 0   2 1 x   -  3  6  0

Brilliant 6 inning shutout by Tacoma's Woo ruined by late bullpen implosion

Raiders.........   0 0 1   0 0 1   0 0 0  -   2  6  0       

Internationals.. 1 0 0   0 0 0   2 0 x   -  3  7  1

Voth blows another lead late for his 2nd loss in the series. Home team skating on thin ice with late inning luck.

Raiders..........   0 0 0   0 2 1   0 0 0  -  3  5  0     

Internationals.. 0 1 0   0 1 0   0 0 0  -  2  6  1

 Luck runs out as Albany leaves the bases loaded in the 9th. 

WEEK # 8  GAME # 1  -
VOLBEAT GHOST ARCHERS at LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLERS

Hunter Brown struck out 20 batters and right fielder Jackson Chourio had 2 base hits and 2 RBI as the Las Vegas High Rollers won in dramatic fashion over the Volbeat Ghost Archers by a score of 4 to 3 at Centennial Field.

Las Vegas scored the winning runs in the bottom of the 9th inning plating 2 runs on 4 base hits.  Ryan Mountcastle led off and he slapped a single.

After an out was recorded, Richie Palacios stepped up to the plate and he slapped a base-hit.  Jordan Westburg then stroked a single which scored a run.  Westburg took second on the throw.  Amed Rosario was up next and he was walked intentionally to load the bases.  Ty France stepped into the box and ripped a one-base hit giving Las Vegas the victory and sending the 64,870 (extra seats available after recent Stadium expansion) home-town fans home happy.  Las Vegas banged out 11 hits on the afternoon.

Brown (4-1), allowing 3 runs for the game, picked up the victory. Nate Pearson (0-1) was the loser in relief.  By giving up 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning his ERA increased from 1.80 to 3.48. 

"Now there is a lesson in perseverance for you," Chourio noted.  "It was looking pretty dim there for a while, but we just kept plugging away and it really paid off in spades!" It should be noted that Chourio was detained, but released by authorities of the Las Vegas Gaming Commission after the game for suspicion of Counting Cards.  And it was great to see the crowd go crazy there at the end!"

Ghost Archers... 1 0 0  0 0 1  1 0 0  -  3   7  1

High Rollers...... 0 0 0  0 0 1  0 1 2  -  4 11  0

High Rollers (14-20)      IP    H   R   ER   BB   SO    HR    PC    ERA

H.Brown WIN (4-1)        9     7    3     3      3     20       0    138     2.47

Totals                               9     7    3     3      3     20       0

WEEK # 6 - GREENSBORO SMOKE at CHICAGO MOB

Game # 1

Chicago down 3-2 in the 9th vs. Jojo Romero. Ke'Bryan Hayes gets a pinch hit single. James McArthur comes in to pitch for Greensboro. Conner Wong singles. Fred Turtle gives the bunt sign to Michael Siani and he executes perfectly. But Garrett Hanson strikes out bringing up Isaiah Kiner-Falefa. Falefa rolls a 6-3, BP single 1-14. The split is a 7 and Hayes and Wong scamper home with the tying and winning runs.

Game # 2

Great duel between Mike Lorenzen and Ronal Blanco. With Chicago up 1-0 in the 8th, The Smoke tie the game with a Cedric Mullins single. Greensboro then loads the bases but Alex Vesia gets Nolan Gorman to foul out. With Bryan Abreu on the bump and one out, K-F again comes through, rolling a 5-11 for a BP HR 1-6. The roll is, amazingly to this reporter, a 4 giving Chicago a 2-1 lead. Closer Will Vest takes the hill and promptly walks Ryan McMahon. Garrett Mitchell bunts him to 2nd. Vest however, gets Mike Toglia to hit a can of corn to right field and whiffs Aaron Schunk for his 9th save.

Game # 3

A battle of the Irvin's: Cole for Greensboro and Jake for Chicago. Another fine performance by both pitchers. Tied at 2 in the 9th, Chicago gets the first 2 outs easily but has HAL often does, makes it difficult to get that 3rd out. Alex Vesia issues back to back 4 pitch walks. Vidal Brujan then rolls a 1-10 for a double 1-11 and gets the 9 roll that scores the lead run. James McArthur (cue Hawaii 5-0 theme) proceeds to strike out the side to prevent the sweep.

Haven't had a write up like this in a while. Feels good.

 

KONA COAST - BLOCK # 2 RESULTS

Kona Coast has a wild home stand with four extra-inning games (with Kona Coast losing 3 of them). The home squad goes 9-6, leaving many runners on base (114-87 opponents). Clearly, the manager needs to be fired.

Blake Snell continues to pitch fantastically, going 2-0 in three starts, allowing only 5 hits with 6 walks in 20 shutout innings. Of course, he’ll run out of innings very quickly at this pace.

The visiting squads did quite well with at least 5 HRs on 1-2 HR out 2-20 cards as well as a couple of triples on low chances. Kona Coast would have had a walk-off win against Concord but W-hitting Andres Gimenez’ HR split off the pitcher’s card just became a single. Alas.

WEEK # 5  ALBANY INTERNATIONALS vs GILEAD GUNSLINGERS

Gilead takes 2 of 3 Home Games versus Albany

Game 1: Gilead gets 6 strong innings from Dean Kremer while the offense bangs out 14 hits including 3 HRs on route to a 8-2 win

Game 2: Tyler Megill pitches 7 shutout innings and the Albany offense gets 13 hits and 7 runs for a 7-0 win

Game 3: Albany out hits Gilead 13-12 but Gilead gets 4 HRs, 2 from Santander and Albany has 12 men LOB and Gilead takes the rubber match of the series 11-4. 

5/ 7 ALB 2 5 0 GGS 8 14 1 D.Kremer (3-0) C.Morton (2-2)
5/ 8 ALB 7 13 1 GGS 0 4 0 T.Megill (1-0) J.Verlander (1-2)
5/ 9 ALB 4 13 1 GGS 11 12 1 R.Stripling (1-0) F.Montas (0-2)

WEEK # 5  GAME # 3
CHICAGO MOB  vs  LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLERS

Chicago Mob.................... 0 0 0 .0 0 0 .0 0 0 -  0    6 1
Las Vegas High Rollers.... 0 1 3 .0 0 1 .6 0 x - 11 14 0

The Chicago Mob might be looking for a new Pitching Coach (replace Fred Turtle??   Noooooooooo.... 

Mike Tauchman smacked 2 triples as the Las Vegas High Rollers smashed the overmatched Chicago Mob, 11 to 0. Chicago never recovered after Las Vegas took the lead in the 2nd inning plating one baserunner using 3 hits.

That scoring would be all that was needed. Las Vegas finished with 14 hits while Chicago ended up with 6. Clarke Schmidt (1-2) picked up the victory, allowing no runs in 5 innings. Carlos Rodon (2-2) ended up with the loss. He allowed a few too many baserunners (Ya Think??) giving up 9 hits and 2 walks in 5 and 1/3 innings.

WEEK 11 - GAME # 2  
MISSISSIPPI BIG ORANGE at MICHIGAN MARVELS

Shohei Ohtani smacked 2 homeruns and had 3 RBI as the Mississippi Big Orange defeated the Michigan Marvels by a score of 6 to 3 at Napolean Park.

Ohtani had a big evening at the plate.  He delivered a solo blast in the 3rd inning and blasted a two-run home run in the 5th inning.  Overall Mississippi out-hit Michigan 10 to 6. 

The victory was credited to Martin Perez (1-4) who went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs. Ryan Walker got the save, his 8th.  Mackenzie Gore (4-5) was the loser.

With this win, Mississippi has a 18-38 record.  They have been 3-7 lately. Michigan has a record of 31-28 after the loss.

WEEK 12 - GAME # 1 
RICHMOND BANSHEES at MICHIGAN MARVELS

The Richmond Banshees and the Michigan Marvels locked up in an exciting one-run game at Napolean Park.  The final score was the Richmond Banshees 6, the Michigan Marvels 5.

Nathan Eovaldi (5-3) had a fairly solid outing.  He went 5 and 1/3 innings surrendering 4 hits and 2 walks.  Eovaldi mowed down 7 Michigan batters. Raisel Iglesias was perfect in relief and gained credit for his 15th save.

Aaron Nola (5-6) was the losing pitcher.  He gave up 6 runs in 4 and 2/3 innings of work. Richmond wound up winning 2 of the 3 games in this Series. 

WEEK 10 - GAME # 3
CONCORD GRAPE at VOLBEAT GHOST ARCHERS

Grape................ 0 0 1  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  1  5  0
Ghost Archers... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  3  1
 

Seth Lugo mowed down 11 Volbeat batters at Sabaton Battlefield where the red-hot Concord Grape shutout the Volbeat Ghost Archers by the score of
1 to 0.

Lugo (7-3) put on a good performance.  He didn't allow much, just 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings.  Scott Barlow was perfect in relief and gained credit for his 3rd save. 

The loss was charged to Javier Assad (1-5).  Lugo, when asked about his 11 strikeout performance noted, "The important thing is that we won, if I get 20 and we lose, what good does it do our team? But, on the other hand, since we won it feels great!"

 

WEEK 11 - GAME # 2 
GOTHAM CITY BATMEN at VOLBEAT GHOST ARCHERS

Batmen.............. 0 1 0  0 2 1  1 0 0  -  5 11  1
Ghost Archers... 0 0 2  1 0 0  0 1 0  -  4   9  2

Batmen (32-24)              IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  

L.Ortiz WIN (3-1)          7        5    3     2     0    11    0    106   1.63  

Luis Ortiz racked up an impressive total of 11 strikeouts at Sabaton Battlefield as the Gotham City Batmen beat the Volbeat Ghost Archers by the count of 5 to 4.

Ortiz (3-1) had a solid outing for Gotham City.  He went 7 innings surrendering 5 hits and no walks.  Volbeat threatened in the 9th, but Gotham City was able to put down the rally. 

Ortiz got help from Kenley Jansen who earned his 15th save.  ChrisStratton (0-1) was the loser in relief.  Gotham City scored big getting 4 runs off him in 2 innings. 

Ortiz was humble when questioned about his performance, "Bueno, me sentí bastante confiado en mis lanzamientos esta noche. Pero, tuve un gran apoyo detrás de mí y solo lanzé lo que se me pidió. ¡Fue un juego extremadamente bien dirigido!"...... or put another way...."Well, I felt pretty confident in my pitches tonight.  But, I had great support behind me and I just threw what was called.  That was an extremely well called game!"

WEEK 14 - GAME # 1 
INDIANAPOLIS CLOWNS at VIRGINIA DESTROYERS

Clowns............. 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -   0  1  0
Destoyers......... 1 2 1   0 0 0  2 0 x  -  6 12  0

Destoyers (43-48)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  

M.Parker WIN(4-9)         9       1    0     0     3    11   0     130   2.92  

Mitchell Parker took a no-hitter into the 9th inning at Harbour Park as the Virginia Destoyers beat the Indianapolis Clowns by the count of 6 to 0.

Parker (4-9) was indeed brilliant as he hand-cuffed the Indianapolis offense. He didn't allow much, just 1 hit and 3 walks in 9 innings.  Parker racked up 11 strikeouts reducing his ERA from 3.20 to 2.92.  The left-handed Parker lost a no-hitter when Paul Goldschmidt doubled with two outs in the 9th inning.  Virginia had a total of 12 hits for the game. 

Zebby Matthews (0-1) ended up with the loss.  He allowed 3 homeruns in 6 and 1/3 innings of work.  Bob Filder was upset after the game.  "I don't like to complain but did you see that umpires strike zone?', he said.  "You'd think that Fleischman was behind the Plate!" Maybe they ought to start calling the strike zone the way it's printed in the rule book."

WEEK 15 - GAMES  # 1 # 2 and # 3 (we actually won a Series!)

RICHMOND BANSHEES at LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLERS

GAME # 1

Banshees.............. 0 1 1  1 0 0  2 1 0  -  6 11  0
High Rollers........ 2 1 0  0 0 0  0 1 0  -   4  6  1

Shea (sounds like a Dog's name... "Here Shea... Here Shea...come on Boy") Langeliers slammed a homerun and had 2 RBI as the Richmond Banshees defeated the dreadful Las Vegas High Rollers 6 to 4 at Centennial Field.

Richmond scored 2 runs in the top of the 7th inning.  The highlight belonged to Langeliers who silenced the crowd when he lifted one out of the park for a two run home run.  Las Vegas was set down.... shhhhh!!! quietly in the bottom of the 9th.

The victory was credited to David Peterson (2-3) who went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs. Raisel Iglesias recorded his 22nd save.  Hunter Brown (5-6) suffered the loss. 

                                                     He was hit pretty hard innings.   

                                      and gave up 9 hits and 5 walks in 6 and 2/3 innings...

 

SHUT MY MOUTH... A SHUTOUT!!

Banshees.............. 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -   0  2  0 
High Rollers........  1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 x  -  1  6  1

George Springer had 2 base hits and Bryce Miller whitewashed Richmond on 2 hits as the Las Vegas High Rollers (are you freakin' kidding me??) defeated the Richmond Banshees by a score of 1 to 0 at Centennial Field.

Miller (8-4) was simply too much for the Richmond batters.  He didn't allow

much... much??... he only gave up 2 hits for cryin' out loud.... but he did walk 5 batters (so the Banshees had some chances) in 9 innings. He was able to lower lhis ERA from 2.87 to 2.65.  Las Vegas managed only 6 hits on the night. 

Dylan Cease (6-8) took the loss.  He gave up 1 run and 5 hits in 4 and 2/3 innings.

Banshees.......... 0 0 1  0 1 3  2 0 0  0 0 -  7 10  3
High Rollers....... 1 0 3  0 0 3  0 0 0  0 1 -  8 13  3

Catcher Logan O'Hoppe cracked a homer and had 3 RBI at Centennial Field where

the Las Vegas High Rollers (somehow) beat the Richmond Banshees in 11 innings by the score of 8 to 7 in front of a season high attendance of 59,847 screaming fans on Scream Night at the Park. (seating capacity is only 40,000). Word has it that the High Roller management paid tourists to enter the Ball Park, announcing that Michael Jackson was not dead and would be singing "Beat It" before the start of the 7th inning. 

Anyway, both teams were tied at 7 runs apiece after nine innings. Finally, Las Vegas pulled the game out in the 11th inning.  After an out was recorded, Amed Rosario doubled.  One out later, Ty (I was born in Downey, CA... Jeff grew up there!) France came to the plate and was walked intentionally.  O'Hoppe then stroked a one-base hit making Las Vegas the victors to the delight of the home town faithful.  It was roller coaster of a game as the lead change hands 5 times. 

Andrew Nardi (3-1) allowed no runs in 2/3 of an inning, and picked up the victory. Raisel Iglesias (0-1) suffered the loss in relief.  He pitched 1 and 2/3 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 walk.