Report by the Armada’s Marcelo Figueroa

In a wild back and forth battle, Long Beach outlasted the St. George Roadrunners 13-11 Tuesday night at Blair Field. The Fleet scored in six different innings, including three in the first and 10 runs between innings four and eight. Scott Watson (1-0) picked up his first win of the year in his two scoreless innings of work. The Armada is now 12-14 in the second half and 32-32 on the season.

Long Beach jumped out in front of the Roadrunners early. Jonny Kaplan reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the first and an out later Steve Moss hit an RBI double to make it 1-0 Armada. Matt Edgecombe followed Moss’ double with one of his own to extend the lead to 2-0. Andy Bouchie singled to put runners on the corners with one out and Dan Luyben cashed in Edgecombe from third with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Long Beach at the end of the first inning.

But in the top of the second inning every hitter in the St. George lineup would come to the plate. Henry Calderon and Ryan Stevenson hit back-to-back singles to begin the inning before Eric Pringle reached on an error to load the bases. Chase Leavitt singled to cut the Armada lead to 3-1. Leadoff hitter Gary Harris then reached on an error to make the deficit just 3-2. An out later the bases were still loaded for the league leader in RBIs, AJ Valentine. Valentine crushed his 15th homerun a year for a grand slam to give the Roadrunners a 6-3 lead at the end of two innings of play.

Long Beach fought back in the home half of the fourth. Dan Luyben began the inning with a walk and an out later Brandon Howard singled. Josh Womack followed with a hit of his own to drive in Luyben, cutting the lead to 6-4. Jonny Kaplan followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-5 St. George. Omar Bramasco walked and Steve Moss hit a two-out single to drive in Womack, tying the ball game at 6-6 at the end of four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Luyben started off an inning that would see two runs on three hits for the Fleet, giving Long Beach back the lead at 8-6.

The Armada lead would be short lived, as St. George would bat around the order for the second time in the game in the top of the sixth. Four hits, a walk and an error later, the Roadrunners put up a five spot on the scoreboard to claim an 11-8 lead.

Long Beach would not relinquish the lead without a fight. In the bottom of the sixth, Moss began a one-out rally with a walk. Edgecombe singled and with two outs Luyben hit an RBI single to cut into the St. George lead at 11-9. After Jones was hit by a pitch and a Howard single, the Fleet added two more to tie the contest at 11-11 at the end of the sixth inning.

In the home half of the seventh, Kaplan singled and Bramasco followed with a double to drive him in, giving Long Beach a 12-11 lead at the end of seven innings.

And in the bottom of the eighth, Andy Bouchie hit his team-leading seventh homer of the season to add an insurance run and push the lead to 13-11. That would be all Rusty Jones needed, as he came in the ninth and shut the door on the Roadrunners to notch his third save of the season.

Ben Fox will take the hill for the Fleet tomorrow in the second game of this three game series against the visiting Roadrunners. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.