LA MIRADA, California- Lance Smith

The Shepherds had another league game versus the Inland Valley Pirates on Friday evening. The two teams had split the series 2-2 before today’s game as both looked to win the rubber match. Roy Washburn started on the bump and looked to give extended innings and limit the Bucs bats.

After giving up one run in the first inning, Washburn seemed to lock in putting up four consecutive scoreless innings. After that, the Bucs were able to scratch one across in both the sixth and seventh innings giving them a 3-1 lead before the Sheps scored one in the top of the eighth to get within one.

Unfortunately for the Sheps, Washburn was unable to get any outs in the eigth before being pulled and the Bucs took advantage putting up a 6 spot and taking a seven-run lead. The win gets the Bucs within half a game of fourth place and a coveted playoff spot. The Sheps still control their own playoff destiny and are in if they win their last two regular season games.

Caleb Bennett (2-1) picked up the win and Roy Washburn (2-4) was tacked with the loss.

Notes

- Kaiden Zacharias went 2-4 with 2 singles

- Emry Jackson got on base 3 of 4 plate appearances via 2 walks and a HBP

- Simms Owens went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk

- Cade Katnik went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk

What’s next

The Shepherds have another league game against the Inland Valley Pirates on Sunday at 11:00 AM PST. The game will be played at LA Valley College and will be live streamed on the Shepherds Facebook page which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/socalfcabaseball/. To stay up to date on all things Shepherds baseball follow us on Instagram (@shepherds_baseball), Twitter (@SoCalShpherds), and Facebook (Southern California FCA Baseball).