West Coast Washout 7, 100% Real Juice 6
West Coast Washout 11, 100% Real Juice 6
by Daniel Rish, West Coast Washout
Game 1: A Back-and-Forth Affair
The Washout prevailed in a wild, back-and-forth game which featured three lead changes. The Juice seized command early, capitalizing on early wildness from Washout pitcher Daniel Rish. (Editor’s note: this article contains gratuitous use of the third person). Juice captain Gabe Showalter pounded a RBI single into left, and walks did the rest as the Juice built a 4-0 lead.
Epo Olivares worked out of early trouble against a 5-man Washout lineup, stranding two runners in the first two innings. The Washout clawed back in the third, with DH Jason Ciummo delivering a bases loaded RBI single. Two more quick runs followed on a Jonathan Stevens sac fly and an Andrew Winter RBI walk. At 4-3 after three innings, the game returned to exactly what the sporting world expected out of a Juice - Washout series. In the bottom of the fourth, Ciummo delivered again, with a two-out, two-run single to center, scoring himself (from an earlier at-bat) and Stevens. The Washout now held a 5-4 lead, their first of the game.
Fast forward to the 6th, with the Washout needing three outs to take the first game. At this point, 13 consecutive Juice batters had been retired via strikeout, dating back to the first inning. Duncan Robinson led off, singling to first base. Sam Lacroix then slammed a no-doubt homer into the centerfield bleachers, breathing new wind into the Juice sails. The rest of the side went down in order, but the Juice now held a 6-5 lead, needing three outs of their own.
Rish led off the bottom half, doubling on a 3-2 pitch. Andrew Winter grounded out, advancing the tying run to third. With one out, Washout captain Jeremy Salvo singled to right, scoring Rish and knotting the game at 6. With two outs, Andrew Winter drove a 2-1 pitch to the wall, winning the game in walkoff fashion.
Rish finished the game with 18 strikeouts and 6 walks, all of which came in the first inning. The Washout outhit the Juice 12-3 en route to the Game 1 win.
Game 2: A Late Comeback Seals the Series
The Washout got out to a 2-0 lead in Game 2, courtesy of a pair of solo shots for Daniel Rish in the first two innings. The lead would not hold for long, as an Epo Olivares RBI single got the Juice on the board in the second inning, and a Kyle Ferris double plated two for a 3-2 Juice lead.
The Juice expanded their lead to 6-2 on a pair of Matt Morris homers to left field in the third and fourth innings. On the mound, Adam Brickett was in control for the Juice, working out of major trouble. That all changed with two outs in the fourth. Karl Koch homered on a high fly ball to center, cutting the score to 6-4. The next batter, Jonathan Stevens, grounded a ball to 3rd base, and bringing a world of controversy into the game. He was ruled safe on a bang-bang play, against the protestations of the Juice. Stevens was also injured on the play and had to leave the game. That play would prove a turning point in the game, as two plays later, Andrew Winter hit a home run to make the score 7-6. Jeremy Salvo homered in the next at-bat to make the score 8-6. The Washout would tack on three more the following inning, with Ciummo and Koch providing the insurance.
Karl Koch sealed the deal on the mound by inducing three pop-outs in the sixth, as the Washout took the game 11-6, and with it, the series. Epo Olivares led the way at the plate for the Juice, going 4-5, while each member of the Washout recorded three hits.
