Silver Sox hold on to beat Roadrunners
BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
RENO - One streak continued and one ended on Monday night at Peccole Park.
The Silver Sox extended their winning streak to eight straight over the St. George Roadrunners this year with an 11-9 Golden Baseball League win, and ex-Carson High star Dusty Bergman won his first game of the season after three losing efforts.
The win moved Reno to 14-16, two games under the .500 mark entering tonight's game against the Long Beach Armada.
The game shouldn't have been that close, and that fact wasn't lost on Reno manager Les Lancaster during his postgame talk.
Bergman, who threw 114 pitches, turned the ball over to his relievers with an 11-3 lead, and watched Chris Testa, Mike Peck and Josh Evans give up six runs to St. George in the eighth and ninth innings.
"It was positive for our position players," Lancaster said. "They swung the bat well and played well defensively. The starting pitching, that's another positive. The bullpen gives up one or two runs now and then, and tonight they gave up a five spot. You can't walk people."
Testa hit a batter who eventually scored and Peck walked two batters, both of whom scored. Evans gave up a run-scoring double to Steven Wright and a run-scoring single to Gerard Haran before finishing the game.
Bergman, who has been the victim of bad breaks, admitted it wasn't his best effort.
"That's the worst I've pitched all year," Bergman said. "I couldn't throw strikes the first three innings. The breaking ball wasn't working. I had no idea where it was going. I can't remember the last time I walked in a run. It's been a long time."
St. George nicked Bergman for a run in the first when Ryan Stevenson walked and scored on a two-out bloop single by Wright.
Reno scored three in the second, as Jose Rodriguez reached on an error and advanced to second on Ryan Brown's infield out. Kane Simmons was hit by a pitch and Maza Chikazawa followed with a run-scoring single between third and short. After Mike Done was hit by a pitch, Sam Walker followed with a two-run single for a 3-1 lead.
The Roadrunners tied the game at 3 in the third, as Bergman walked two batters and gave up singles to ex-Silver Sox Cody Nowlin and Wright. A bases-loaded walk to Haran scored one run and Gary Harris' fielder's choice scored the other.
Bergman settled down, throwing scoreless ball over the next four innings. He allowed four hits and didn't walk a batter in that span.
"I didn't change anything," Bergman said. "After the third inning, Maza and I got together. I just had him set up down the middle, and I still couldn't hit that all the time."
Lancaster said that Bergman essentially took himself out of the game, admitting he was fatigued.
"He threw a hard 114 (pitches)," Lancaster said. "He didn't have his pinpoint control and was behind in the count a lot. He knows himself a lot better than I do, and he came to me. We had time to get Testa ready."
Reno snapped the tie in the fifth when Senreiso slammed a homer over the left-field fence, and Bergman had another small cushion to work with.
The Silver Sox expanded their lead in the sixth to 6-2, but lost a great chance to break it open.
Chikazawa singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single to center by Done. Walker dropped a bunt down in front of the plate, and Roadrunner pitcher Ben Buker threw it wildly to first, allowing Done to reach third. After reliever Mike Storey walked Hall, he hit Ryan Kowalski with a pitch, forcing home a run to make it 6-3.
Senreiso struck out and Rodriguez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the uprising.
Reno exploded for five runs in the seventh as a wild pitch and an error accounted for three runs, while Walker and Senreiso each singled home a run to make it 11-3.
Walker has been a godsend. In two games, he's 5-for-6 and has played errorless ball at short. He was playing in Redding and hitting over .300 when he got a call from Lancaster.
"It's a nice way to start off the year," Walker said. "My swing feels good right now. I'm in a groove right now."
"He's been swinging the bat well the last two days," Lancaster said. "He got that nice sacrifice bunt down in the sixth and got the clutch hit in the eighth. He'll get a little bigger test the next few days."
NOTES: Matt Parris gets the start tonight against the Armada ... Reno used Rodriguez at third base, and he was flawless, handling five chances without an error. Rodriguez said he played third base before converting to catcher ... The World Famous Chicken, formerly known as the San Diego Chicken, will make his first-ever Peccole Park appearance on Wednesday night, the last night of the current homestand ... There was another ejection, as plate umpire Tyler Ramsey threw out relief pitcher Mike Storey in the ninth inning with one out. It was the third ejection in as many nights.
• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281