By Thaddeus Krzus
Canada A’s 6 – British Columbia Bombers 3
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—Steven Rasmussen held the British Columbia Bombers at bay through four innings and the Canada A’s offense came up clutch to stay on top of the California Winter League standing with a 6-3 victory on Sunday morning at Palm Springs Stadium.
Billy Gonzalez opened up the scoring for the Bombers (7-6-1) in the second with a two-run double, but the A’s responded with a run in the third on an RBI single by Yuki Yasuda and an RBI single by Michael Skoller in the fourth tied the game at two.
Canada (11-3) broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth when Brandon Papera scored on a Sam Montgomery single to put the A’s up 4-3.
Tyler Gurman and Ryan Deitrich added RBI singles of their own to open up the lead to 6-3.
Palm Springs Power 4 – Toronto Rush 2
The Palm Springs Power kept pace with the Canada A’s to stay just half a game out of first place after a 4-2 win over the Toronto Rush.
Toronto (6-8) took a 2-0 edge into the fifth before the Power (10-3) broke through with a four spot to take a lead they would not relinquish.
Robert Fuhr and Daniel Baptista reached safely to start the fifth when Jeremy Delgado’s fielder’s choice brought in Fuhr from third.
Eddie Williams walked to put two runners on for Tommy Barksdale, who cleared the bases with a double to put the Power on top, 3-2.
Barksdale would score on a passed ball to make it a 4-2 game.
Michael Fabrizio struck out seven over five innings in the win, and Kyle Pisano worked the final two frames to pick up the save.
Oregon Lumberjacks 9 – Alberta Grizzly 3
The Oregon Lumberjacks took advantage of defensive miscues by the Alberta Grizzly on their way to a 9-3 victory.
The Jacks (6-7-1) struck for four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to pull away from the Grizzly (5-5-2).
Brent Choban struck out five over four innings for Oregon, while the combination of Elliot Engle, Cody Rocha and Nate Antone finished the final three frames in the win.
Schedule Games for Monday, February 9:
10:00 a.m.: Midwest Haymakers vs. Coachella Valley Snowbirds (Palm Springs Stadium)
10:30 a.m.: Palm Springs Power vs. Palm Springs Chill (Auxiliary Field #2)
12:30 p.m.: Washington Blue Sox vs. Oregon Lumberjacks (Palm Springs Stadium)
February 9 Promotion:
Canada Day. $2 admission with a Canadian ID
