Legends Chemistry and Confidence Lead to Blowout Win
The Alameda Merchants and last weekends rival, the San Luis Obispo Blues, traveled to Menlo Park on Tuesday and Wednesday night. The Merchants cruised past the Legends Tuesday, but the squad responded with a statement 13-2 victory.
Walks plagued the Legends pitching Tuesday on top of a quite four hit team effort leading to their 9-3 loss. Despite the off night, the Legends still built opportunities to get back in the game however an efficient pitching performance by Merchants starter, Jaden Bitter, overpowered their offense.
vs Blues
Head Coach Nick Sanzeri raved about this team’s heart and chemistry which was tested after their first overwhelming loss of the season. The Legends turned to Ray Hernandez, who flew into California Tuesday afternoon, after his Utah Valley College team reached the Eugene Regionals. An unforgettable experience, contributing to a team with an opportunity to reach a dream come true.
Despite just learning his teammates names, Hernandez still had a goal in mind, “I wanted to set the tone, set the standard for the pitching staff.” He did exactly that, looking untouchable through seven innings of work, surrendering one run and striking out seven Blues.
Hernandez hadn’t had an outing go further than four innings or strikeout more than four with Utah Valley this season. “Fast ball away, slider away and an occasional knuckleball which has been a pitch I’ve been working on, that’s all I need to be successful.” A 70% strike rate was exactly how Sanzeri envisioned his team responding after allowing 12 walks the previous day.
Although the pitching was brilliant, the offense stole the show beginning in the last half of the third. Dane Most blasted a two-run shot to left field, nearly shattering a scoreboard light. The fire didn’t stop after Blake Cowans and James Bose each tallied singles in the fourth. TJ Schmalzle drew a walk, setting the stage for Designated Hitter Will Robbins.
“There were two strikes on me… so I was just thinking about being short to the ball,” Robbins said post game. For most hitters, short to the ball refers to sending line drives up the middle. For Robbins, it means launching an 0-2 fastball 330 feet to left field. Robbins mentioned the last time he hit a home run was in high school for Hillsdale… it was also a grand slam.
The Legends had built a comfortable 8-1 lead at this point. With the way Hernandez was dealing on the bump, the Legends were running like clockwork. Stringing together a few more hits and capitalizing off some defensive miscues, the Legends added five more runs in the 5th.
“[Wednesday] we felt back in our groove by getting the bat head out early in counts” Sanzeri stated after his team wrapped up a 14-2 victory.
Upcoming Schedule
6/13 @ Sonoma Stompers – 6pm
6/14 @ Sonoma Stompers – 6pm
6/15 vs Sonoma Stompers – 1pm & 4pm
