Jey Young / Ball Boy Blog
Game two began right around 7:50 pm on a windy and chilly Saturday night at GESA Stadium. However, that didn't stop a full house from having a great time. RHP Ryan Costieu got the nod for the Dust Devils on the hill, while the Canadians sent out RHP Hunter Gregory to go against.
The first three innings for both pitchers didn't yield any runs. It wasn't until the 4th that the Canadians could score a run off Costieu. DH Davis Schneider led off the 4th with a double down the LF line. SS Addison Barger could advance Schneider with a fly-out to RF. 1B P.K. Morris scored Schneider of a fielder's choice to get the Canadian's first run on the board.
After a strikeout by Dust Devils SS Kyren Paris, 1B Gabe Matthews, and LF Edwin Yon were able to get back-to-back singles to get aboard. CF D'Shawn Knowles hit into a field choice that allowed the runners to move to 2nd and 3rd. RF Mike Peabody ripped a ball deep into RF for a 2RBI double to take back the lead with 2-outs in the bottom 4th. 2B Jose Guzman hit a chopper just over the glove of Canadians 1B Morris, and thanks to some heads-up base running by Peabody, he scored on the play. The Dust Devils entered the frame down 0-1 and left the frame leading 3-1.
The Canadians brought in LHP Jimmy Robbins in the bottom of the 4th to get C Kyle Lovelace out and continued the game. Dust Devils SP Ryan Costieu and Robbings went on to throw a fast 5th inning and 6th inning, and we began the top of the 7th with Costieu back on the mound looking to earn a complete game, 1-run, victory for his team.
Costieu began the 7th, setting down Canadians 1B Morris on strikes; he then got LF Mack Mueller to ground out the 3rd, after what should have been the 3rd strike on C Andres Sosa, be allowed Sosa onto 1st with a BB on balls. That ended the night for Costieu as he could go 6.2IP, allowing 5H, 1ER, 1BB, and getting 5K while lowering his ERA from 2.50 to 2.32. RHP Glen Albanese came on to record the 1-out save as he got RF Garret Spain to ground out to 2nd.
Not much in the way of observations in these two games, and everything was very status quo. The pitching was outstanding in both games to limit runs and keep men off base. There were about 6-8 broken bats in both contests, which tells me hitters were swinging and sawing off breaking balls they probably should have held off on.
DUST DEVILS WIN! The Dust Devils now lead this series 4-2, heading into the finale on Sunday. Following the 2nd game of the double header, the Dust Devils now sit in a 3-way tie with the Canadians and Aqua Sox for 4th place in the NW League and are only a 0.5G back of the Hops for 3rd place.
Following the Sunday evening game, the Dust Devils hit the road for two weeks, heading to Everett to take on the Mariners High-A affiliate, the Aquasox; following the six against the Aqua Sox, they head down the Eugene, Or to take on the SF Giants High-A affiliate the Emeralds for six games. The Dust Devils return home on June 28th to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks High-A affiliate, the Hillsboro Hops.
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