Drakes win fifth straight, remain in Pecos League playoff hunt
Jul. 30—Alan Alonzo had some inspiring words for the Marysville Drakes' fan base following the independent baseball team's fifth straight win in which it plated 10 or more runs to take down Martinez, 13-6 Saturday at Bryant Field in Marysville.
"No one is stopping the Drakes," Alonzo said. "We're pretty hot."
The latest triumph puts Marysville a game-and-a-half back of Lancaster for the fourth and final Pecos League Pacific Divisional playoff seed heading into Sunday's regular season finale against Dublin (4-44) at Bryant Field.
A win by Marysville, coupled with a loss by Lancaster (27-22) Sunday at Monterey, forces a one-game playoff to decide the fourth seed in the playoffs.
"I think it was two weeks ago we were like 'We're the best team in this league,'" Alonzo said. "We started playing like it and luckily this last week we've been playing some good baseball (to) put us in a good spot."
Alonzo and the Drakes (26-23) played like the Pecos League's premier squad again on Saturday. The Miami native and Marysville shortstop drove in three, including two on a sharp double smacked down the left-field line in the third to make it 4-0 Marysville. Alonzo was one of five players with multiple hits, led by leadoff Drake Ayala's three-hit day and a team-high four RBI off the bat of Evan Blum.
Blum helped blow it open in the bottom of the fifth with a bases-clearing three-run double to push Marysville's lead on Martinez to 11-4.
Blum added another RBI in the seventh, while outfielder Lyndon Weaver scored the team's 62nd run during its streak on a sac fly.
"There are times when you're up at the box and it looks like you are swinging at a beach ball and other times it looks like it is a golf ball," Blum said. "But the key is getting up there, being confident and (to) keep working. You are always one bounce, one good hop away from breaking through. That's what people say about baseball: 'You're one pitch away, one out away, one inning away.'
On the mound Earl Johnson went 5.1 against Martinez before giving way to a trio of Drakes' relievers, capped by closer Mike Stellmack, to shut the door on the Sturgeon's season and stay alive for that No. 4 spot.
All Marysville home games begin at 6:35 p.m. at Bryant Field in Marysville.
Upcoming playoffs
Pecos League Divisional playoffs in the Pacific and Mountain Division are scheduled to begin Tuesday with four best-of-three series.
The top seed will play No. 4, while No. 2 and 3 go head-to-head in each division. The winners will meet for a league championship, followed by a Pecos League World Championship Series set to begin Aug. 9.
All series leading up to the finals are best-of-3, with the higher seed to host all games, according to OurSports Central's Pecos League correspondent Bruce Baskin.
