Top-seed San Rafael clinches; Bakersfield-monterey tied at one
Each Pecos League playoff series is best-of-three
The 2023 Pecos League playoff first round continued Tuesday night, with San Rafael eliminating Lancaster, 4-0, in the Pacific
Division semifinals while Monterey walked off with an 11-10 win at Bakersfield. Tucson topped Garden City, 12-1, in its Mountain Division opener but Alpine’s Game One at home against Trinidad was rained out and will be made up later.
San Rafael 2, Lancaster 0
Jake Dent combined with two relievers on a one-hit shutout as the San Rafael Pacifics completed a two-game sweep of the Pacific Division semifinals with a 4-0 home win over Lancaster Tuesday night at Albert Park. A 6-foot-4 righthander from Sonoma State, Dent allowed only a second inning single by Jacob Jablonski over six innings, striking out six. Josh Idell and Billy Babb combined to hold the Lancaster Sound Breakers hitless over the last three frames of the contest, which was scoreless until a leadoff homer by Beau Dorman in the bottom of the eighth for the Pacifics broke the tie. Dorman finished with three hits on the night for the winners. Brian Blackburn took the loss for
Lancaster after carrying his own shutout through seven frames.
Bakersfield 1, Monterey 1
In a game that featured a combined 21 runs on as many hits, it was a wild pitch that gave the Monterey Amberjacks an 11-10 walk-off win in the bottom of the tenth at Bakersfield’s Sam
Lynn Ballpark, tying the Pacific Division series at one. After Train Robbers reliever Hunter Adams had walked the bases full with one out, Adams uncorked a wild pitch on a 1-1 count to Monterey’s Dominic Scotti that got past Paul Van Sboray, who’d been shifted to catcher from first base the previous inning, allowing Anthony Ward to streak in from third with the game-winning run. Ward homered earlier in the second straight 100-degree night while Bakersfield’s Christian Jones went deep for the second game in a row. Scotti earned the win after having pitched a scoreless tenth.