Bergman left waiting in Nuts’ finale

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level.

Christian Bergman (St. Francis High, 2006) starting pitcher, Modesto Nuts: Hope wasn’t lost for the Nuts. Although Modesto trailed the Lancaster JetHawks, 2-0, in the best-of-three series coming into the third game of the California League Championship Saturday, it knew full well one victory could quickly lead to another with Bergman being saved for a possible game four, according to the Modesto Bee.

The Nuts were unable to send the series to a fourth game, as they were swept by the JetHawks Saturday in a 3-2 loss. Lancaster never trailed, as it scored one run in the bottom of the first inning and added two more in the third for a 3-0 lead. Modesto scratched out two runs in the fourth to cut the lead to one, but wouldn’t score again.

Bergman, who was named the California League Pitcher of the Year, didn’t pitch at all in the league championship, but was solid in both of his postseason appearances — one of which was made out of the bullpen. He struck out 14 and allowed eight hits and two walks through 12 innings on the mound in the postseason.

It capped off another standout year in the Colorado Rockies farm system. He posted a 16-5 record with a 3.65 earned-run average in the regular season. He also struck out 121 batters through 162 2/3 innings and 27 starts for the Nuts, who finished second in their league’s North Division with a 73-67 record.

Bryan Longpre (Crescenta Valley High, 2005), relief pitcher, Gulf Coast League Blue Jays: Longpre’s number of stops in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system shot up to four this year when he was assigned to the rookie Gulf Coast League-affiliate Blue Jays on Aug. 25.

Longpre was coming off a streak of three games where he’d given up at least two hits and a run with the class-A short season affiliate Vancouver Canadians before he was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. In that span, he surrendered 10 hits and six runs over four innings.

The former Falcon also spent seven- and 11-game stints with the class-A advanced Dunedin Blue Jays and class-A Lancaster Lugnuts, respectively, in 2012.

Longpre arrive to the Gulf Coast League too late to make an appearance for the Blue Jays affiliate, which had its season also end on Aug. 25 after it finished fifth in the league’s North Division with a 22-38 record.

Overall, Longpre appeared in 25 games this season for a total of 38 innings. He posted a 5.92 ERA with a 1-3 record, while striking out 25 and walking 14. Longpre’s best performances came in Dunedin, as he went 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA and seven strikeouts in seven appearances and 8 2/3 innings pitched.

Chad Nacapoy (Crescenta Valley High, 2007) catcher, Princeton Rays: While Nacapoy wasn’t an everyday starter or contributor in his first season with the Princeton Rays, a rookie affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays in the Appalachian League, he did find himself on the field in their final game of the season Aug. 28.

The former Falcon was hitless through three at-bats in the game, but reached base on a walk. It was his first start in 11 games, as he went two for three with two singles as a designated hitter in an 8-4 loss to the Johnson City Cardinals on Aug. 17.

Nacapoy finished the season with a .244 batting average (11 for 45) with four runs scored and two RBI, while striking out 11 times and walking nine.

Princeton didn’t earn a playoff spot after it finished third in the Appalachian League East Division with a 36-32 overall record.