Colby Neely picked up his league-leading 11th victory for the Campesinos last weekend (File).
Thursday, Aug. 26: Senators 6 Campesinos 5
Despite committing five errors on the night, the Senators held the first-place Campesinos scoreless through the final four frames to win the series-opener by a score of 6-5.
The Campesinos held a 3-0 lead after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the second, but the Senators responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame to take their first lead of the contest.
After Danny Alvarado led off the inning with a solo homer, the Senators took advantage of a pair of Campesinos miscues to score three more runs in the frame.
The Campesinos tied the game in the top of the third thanks to an RBI-single by Drew Bayard, but in the bottom of the fourth, the Senators took advantage of another error by the Campesinos.
With runners on second and third, Campesinos third baseman Collin Runge booted a ground ball off the bat of Edgar Vela, allowing Garrett Kueber and Jordan Myrow to score, putting the Senators on top 6-4.
The Campesinos got within a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI-single by Eric Whitfield, but Senators pitchers Nathan Gillman and Roberto Torres gave up no runs on just one hit over the next four frames to clinch the victory for the Senators.
Friday, Aug. 27: Volcanoes 14 Mavericks 4
The Volcanoes scored eight runs in the first two innings to get the easy 14-4 victory over the Mavericks.
CJ Epperson, Gabriel Cotto, Kevin Jordan Jr. and Landen Barns each had a pair of RBIs on the night while Nick Adgar and Bryan Ruby had three hits apiece for the Volcanoes.
The Volcanoes found a power surge in the top of the first as Nick DiBenedetto led off the game with a homer, which was soon followed by a two-run blast from Jordan Jr. A two-run double from Epperson later in the inning put Salem-Keizer up 5-0.
The Volcanoes extended their lead to 8-1 in the top of the second, bringing in a trio of runs after a pair of Mavericks errors.
After an RBI-double by Cotto in the top of the fourth, Mavericks catcher Drake Zarate was able to briefly stop the bleeding with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the lead to 10-3. But the Volcanoes brought four more across in the top of the eighth, highlighted by RBI-hits from Cotto and Ruby.
Matt McDonald picked up the win for the Volcanoes on the hill, giving up three runs on five hits over five innings.
Saturday, Aug. 28: Campesinos 7 Senators 3
Colby Neely won his league-leading 11th game, pitching five innings and striking out seven without giving up a run, as the Campesinos defeated the Senators 7-3
Patrick Chung led the Campesinos offensive charge, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a homer and three runs scored.
After neither team scored in the first two frames, the Campesinos struck for three runs in the top of the third. Trevor Morrison brought in Nick Ybarra from third on a sacrifice fly for the first run of the frame, which was followed by a two-run single by Eric Whitfield to put the Campesinos on top 3-0.
The Campesinos plated two more runs in the sixth and eighth innings to extend their lead to 7-0.
The Senators scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the ninth thanks to RBI-hits from Edgar Vela and Danny Alvarado.
Saturday, Aug. 28: Volcanoes 8 Mavericks 3
Four Volcanoes players had multi-hit games in Salem-Keizer’s series-clinching 8-3 win over the Mavericks.
Mason McAlister picked up his third win of the season for the Volcanoes, giving up just one earned run on three hits in five innings.
After the Mavericks got a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, Nick Adgar got the Volcanoes on the board with a solo homer.
Volcanoes outfielder Tony Holton hit a solo blast of his own to tie the game in the top of the fourth.
Later in the inning, Bryan Ruby gave Salem-Keizer the 3-2 advantage with an RBI-groundout, which was followed by a sacrifice fly from CJ Epperson, extending the lead to 4-2
The Volcanoes continued to build on their lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth.
The Mavericks responded in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a solo homer by Matt Holliday, but the Volcanoes went up 8-3 in the top of the eighth on an RBI-hit from Bryan Ruby.
Sunday, Aug. 29: Mavericks 8 Volcanoes 6
The Mavericks avoided the three-game sweep by beating the Volcanoes 8-6 in the series-finale.
Matt Holliday led the Mavericks offense, going 3-for-5 at the dish with an RBI.
An RBI-double down the left field line by Nick DiBenedetto gave the Volcanoes the early 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but the Mavericks came back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back RBI-groundouts by Phillip Parker and Mike Howard.
The Mavericks got two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-single by Holiday and an RBI-groundout from Andrew Castano to lead 4-1.
After the Mavericks went up 6-2 in the bottom of the seventh, the Volcanoes stormed back to score four runs in the top of the eighth — highlighted by a two-run shot from David Kyriacou — to tie the game. But the Mavericks responded in the bottom half of the frame as Jordan Drake scored the go-ahead run after a single by Humberto Soto. Mavericks catcher Drake Zarate gave the Mavericks some insurance with an RBI-double to knock in Soto, increasing the lead to 8-6.
Garrett Alvarez — who has spent the majority of the season as a starting pitcher — came on in relief to get his first save of the season for the Mavericks.
Sunday, Aug. 29: Campesinos 4 Senators 2
The Campesinos clinched the series victory by defeating the Senators 4-2 in the final game of the Mavericks League regular season.
Rick Phillips went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in the win.
The Mavericks League championship game will be played on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 6:35 p.m. (teams to be determined).
Matt Rawlings: [email protected]
