Down and out against Vegas
NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Though the members of the Glendale Angelenos lost their first California Collegiate League contest in front of more than an estimated 100 fans at Stengel Field on Friday night, a late-inning comeback attempt left them thinking positive for the remainder of their first league series.
The Angelenos, a first-year team, struck out 14 times and left nine runners on base en route to a 12-7 loss to Team Vegas.
“This was a game we didn’t want to lose, but we will get this under our belts,” Glendale Coach Tony Riviera said. “We are still getting used to each other and one [league] loss doesn’t make or break a season.
“We can still come back and win these next two games and win this series.”
The Angelenos, who opened the season earlier this week by splitting a pair of nonleague games against the East L.A. Blue Dodgers at Stengel Field, will face Team Vegas at 6:30 p.m. today and Sunday.
Glendale center fielder Matthew Young, who finished with three hits and scored three runs, said the Angelenos had a respectable first league contest.
“We scored seven runs and that should be enough to win in a wooden-bat game,” Young said. “We made it respectable by coming back late.
“The competition in our league is better. I think we had a few jitters early in the game and then we turned things around.”
After Team Vegas (1-0) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Glendale responded with a run in the bottom of the inning when Alex Muren singled home Young, who led off with a double.
Team Vegas scored two runs in the second to make it 3-1 before scoring four runs in the third to extend its lead to 7-1. Jordan Stewart hit a three-run home run off Glendale starting pitcher Drew Muren to make it 6-1.
The Angelenos cut the deficit to 7-2 when Ellis Whitman of Glendale ¿ Community College grounded to shortstop to score Young, who opened the inning with a walk before stealing second and third.
Back-to-back doubles by Cameron Harper and Kris Kaplan made it 8-2 and a passed ball scored Kaplan to make it 9-2 in the fourth.
Young scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-3 in the fifth, but Brandon Garcia hit a two-run home run to give Team Vegas an 11-3 lead in the sixth.
The Angelenos responded with three runs in the seventh, including a bases-loaded walk to Josh Goosen-Brown and a two-run double by Matt Tellesco to make it 11-6.
Team Vegas scored a run in the ninth to extend its lead to 12-6 before the Angelenos closed out the scoring with a run-scoring single by Austin ¿Walker.
