Sam Reel - LA MIRADA, Calif
Late inning heartbreak met the Shepherds on Monday night, as they allowed three runs in the top of the ninth and fell to the Solana Beach Redbirds 9-6. The Shepherds were in control the majority of the game after the offense scored six runs over the first three innings. Tanner Smith got things started in the bottom of the first with an RBI single and would later score on an error to tie the game at two. Over the next two innings, sac flies from Sebastian Dunn and Nathan Weatherly and a two-run double by Jackson Van Ness gave the Shepherds a 6-2 lead.
Roy Washburn settled in after a first-inning where he struggled with command and kept the Redbirds off the board. For the second start in a row, Washburn struck out eight and pitched his way out of any trouble he got into. He would be pulled after four and a third innings of three-run baseball. Austin Hallman would relieve Joshua Ramirez after he failed to record an out after replacing Washburn. Hallman would dominate the two batters he faced, striking out both to strand the bases loaded to preserve the 6-3 lead.
Shepherds’ starter Jacob Brothers made a scoreless appearance out of the bullpen in the sixth before making way for newcomer Brayden Englert. Englert battled with his command, allowing the fourth Redbird run on a Luca Martinez sac fly, but stranded runners at the corners to end the inning.
Gus Zapata was the Shepherds' choice for the eighth. Zapata had been one of the best Shepherds relievers entering today but the Redbirds jumped on Zapata on Monday. After walking the leadoff man Liam O'Connor, Redbirds' third baseman Kyle Dobson sent one over the left-field wall to tie the game at six.
The Sheps offense had nothing doing against Redbird reliever Luke Gentry. Gentry spun five innings of scoreless baseball out of the bullpen to keep the Shepherd lead within reach. Chad Ragland, who went two for four with an RBI and two stolen bases at the plate, moved from left field to the mound in the top of the ninth. Ragland would allow a go-ahead RBI single to Harrison Rodgers, and two more insurance runs would follow later in the inning. After the Shepherds’ got leadoff singles from Emry Jackson and Will Cline in the bottom of the ninth, the Shepherds would fail to get them home and have their record fall to 4-6 on the year.
The Shepherds have tomorrow night off and will return to play on Wednesday, July 15 against the California Cage Rats.