LA MIRADA, California- Lance Smith
The Shepherds had their second game versus the Long Beach Legends in just five days on Wednesday evening. The Sheps won the first bout on Saturday by the score of 5-3 using timely hitting and solid pitching to secure the victory. Andrew Sutherland took the bump who looked to pick up a quality start and propel the Shepherds to a second straight home victory.
From the start, Sutherland was able to control the game by pounding the zone and forcing Legends batters to make soft contact allowing the defense to make plays. Throwing 8.0 innings with no runs and only 2 hits given up, Sutherland set the tone from the bump and gave the team confidence to complete their second home victory in a row.
At the plate, the Sheps were able to hit the ball hard all game with many going straight to Legend’s fielders but were able to breakthrough in the 4th inning with back-to-back doubles from Jamie LaFramboise and Connor Aldrich, scoring one run.
Andrew Sutherland (1-1) picked up the win and Martin Najera (0-2) was tacked with the loss.
Notes
- Andrew Sutherland’s shutout lowered his ERA to 2.70
- Jamie LaFramboise went 1 for 3 and scored the lone run of the game
- Connor Aldrich went 2 for 3 with an RBI double and a single
- Andrew White went 2 for 2
- Jackson LoBianco earned his 2nd save on the season
- Simms Owens recorded 7 putouts from center field
- The Shepherds defense committed 0 errors
Quote from Andrew Sutherland
When asked about today’s outing: “I think first of all, great defense today. We did a great job of keeping them off balance by just trying to stay around the zone and not try to do to much. Again, just a stellar performance by the defense, ground balls and fly balls, every play was made and we held it down out there which was great.”
What’s next
The Shepherds have another league game tomorrow, July 8th, versus the Inland Valley Buccaneers at 4:30 pm PST. The game will be played at Whittier Christian High School 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).