Palm Springs, CA-Jan 29, 2011-In the first game Saturday it seemed like a matter of last man standing at Palm Springs Stadium, as nine runs were tallied in the opening frame.
Ayummi Nakamura’s 2-RBI single capped a four run first for the Coachella Valley Snowbirds. The home team Palm Desert Coyotes responded with five of their own, the last two coming on a Russell Dixon 2-RBI single.
The Snowbirds came back with five runs in the top of the third, aided by a 2-RBI double off the bat of Takeru Kawada and a 2-RBI single by Brock Whiteman. They tacked on four more in the fourth and one in the fifth, en route to a football-esque 14-7 decision.
The second game of the twin-bill was quite a different story. That contest belonged to Canada A’s starting pitcher Jack Winters, as he kept the Palm Springs Chill offense guessing through five hitless innings. A single by Jake Taylor would be the only hit allowed by Winters, to go along with his six strikeouts in seven innings on the hill.
Winters was backed by his teammates at the plate. The A’s scored one in the third and two in the fourth, highlighted by an RBI triple by Charles Shapiro. Catcher Brian Ivan celebrated his 21st birthday with an RBI double in the fifth and Mark Hill plated Brian Bistagne with an RBI single in the seventh to give Canada a 5-run advantage.
Matt Walker and Bryan Wilde each tossed an inning of scoreless relief to preserve the 5-1 victory.
Sunday’s action will feature the Coachella Valley Snowbirds (4-1-1) hosting the Canada A’s (3-3-0) at 10 a.m., followed by the Chill (1-4-1) and the Palm Desert Coyotes (3-3-0) at 1 p.m. All games this winter are broadcast live on www.CaliforniaWinterLeague.com.
