Indians

A pair of late rallies were not enough to prevent a loss as the Alameda AAA Indians fell to the Angels.

Isaac Maximov started on the mound for the Indians against Nick Chen leading off for the Angels.  Chen singled on a fly over second base and was followed by Sean Cunningham's single on a grounder past the shortstop.  Garrett Langfeld singled, but the force play was made at third on Chen for one away.  "Babe" Rhys Morgan followed with a fly ball to right that was good for a double and scored Cunningham.  With runners on second and third Emmett Kaake flied to left field where Casey Thiering made the catch, but Langfeld scored on the play.  Nicholas Jaber came to the plate but Morgan was tagged out attempting to steal third and the Angels were retired after scoring twice.

Nick Stevens led off for the Indians against Robby Platt pitching for the Angels.  Stevens flied out to first base.  Jackson Tracy batted next and singled on a grounder down the third base line.  Micah Rothenbuhler followed with a fly to shallow center for a single, but a force play was made on Tracy at second.  Michael Copple grounded to third and the Angels made the force play on Rothenbuhler at second and the Indians were held scoreless in the first, trailing by two.

Maximov continued to pitch for the Indians in the second as Jaber returned to the plate for the Angels.  Jaber, and then Zachary Bailey, struck out and the Indians quickly had two away.  Platt doubled on a fly to left center and then stole third before scoring when Richard Allen hit a grounder to second for a single.  Allen stole second before Philip Chin walked, giving the Angels runners on first and second.  A wild pitch to Daniel Newell allowed the runners to advance, and then a fly ball double down the third base line scored them both.  Chen grounded to short and beat the throw to first, advancing Newell to third.  Chen stole second on a pitch in the dirt to Cunningham, and then advanced to third when Cunningham's single scored Newell.  With Langfeld at the plate Cunningham stole second.  A mishandled pitch allowed Chen to steal home and Cunningham to steal third before Langfeld struck out to make it three away, with the Angels now up by seven.

Maximov led off the bottom of the second against Platt again pitching for the Angels.  Maximov's pop-up foul was caught by the catcher for one away.  Trevor Greenley stretched a ground ball single to the shortstop into a double when the throw to first went astray.  Greenley stole third and was held there when Derek Snediker flied out to short.  Wyatt Arens tested the shortstop yet again with a ground ball and was thrown out at first, stranding Greenley, and the Indians remained scoreless after two.

Morgan led off the third against Maximov on the mound for the Indians.  A long fly to center was good for a double, but Morgan could not advance when Kaake grounded back to Maximov who made the throw to Rothenbuhler at first for one away.  Morgan stole third before Jaber flied out to Snediker at short, and then scored on Bailey's ground ball double through the gap to right center.  Bailey stole third before Platt took a base on balls, and then the bases were loaded when Allen was hit by a pitch.  Chin hit a grounder to short, but Snediker's force throw to home got loose and Kaake and Bailey scored.  With runners on first and second Newell struck out and the Angels now were up by ten.

Platt returned to the mound for the Angels against Evan Park leading off for the Indians.  Park hit a short fly that fell in the infield and beat the throw to first for a single, and then stole second before Thiering struck out.  Liam Bergstrom followed with a strike out and Stevens came to the plate.  Park stole third base and then scored when Stevens hit a fly ball double to right field.  One run is all the Indians would get in the third as Tracy left Stevens stranded when he flied out to the shortstop.  The score with three played was Angels ten, Indians one.

Michael Copple took the mound for the Indians in the fourth against the Angels at the top of their batting order.  Chen doubled on a line drive to short, but was picked off trying to steal third before Cunningham singled on a fly to left field.  Langfeld's fly ball single to left field allowed Cunningham to advance to third.  Langfeld stole second, and then advanced to third when Morgan singled and then made second as a rundown play on him broke down allowing Cunningham to score.  A mishandled pitch allowed Langfeld to steal home and Morgan to advance to third before Kaake's fly ball double brought Morgan home.  Jaber flied to center and Stevens made the catch, holding Kaake at second.  A wild pitch to Bailey made room for Kaake to steal third, where he was stranded when Bailey struck out.  The Angels were leading by twelve over the Indians as play moved to the bottom of the fourth.

The Angels brought in Nick Chen to pitch the fourth inning.  Rothenbuhler led off for the Indians with a fly ball to center field that was caught for the out.  Copple grounded to short and was thrown out at first.  Maximov took Chen to a full count before being called out on strikes and the Indians went three up three down, still trailing by twelve runs at the top of the fifth inning.

The Indians returned the three up three down favor to the Angels in the top of the fifth.  Platt faced Copple on the mound and struck out.  Allen grounded to Maximov at short and was out at first as Arens caught the throw for the force out.  Chin struck out swinging and the Angels were retired without adding to their lead.

Sean Cunningham took the mound for the Angels in the bottom of the fifth.  Greenley led off for the Indians with a fly to center field for a double.  Greenley then stole third on a wild pitch before Snediker walked.  Arens hit a fly ball to center scoring Greenley, and advancing Snediker to second.  The runners advanced on a wild pitch to Park, who then grounded back to the pitcher for a single.  The pitcher made the throw to the plate and Snediker was tagged out by the catcher and prevented from scoring.  Thiering flied down the first base line, scoring Arens, and stretching a single into a double to give the Indians runners on second and third.  Bergstrom took Cunningham to a full count before striking out swinging, and the inning closed with two men stranded when Stevens struck out swinging as well.  The score at the end of five was Angels thirteen, Indians three.

The Indians stayed with Copple pitching in the sixth.  Newell led off for the Angels, grounding to Greenley who connected with Arens for the first out at first.  Chen popped up and Copple made the catch for two away.  Cunningham walked on a full count ball, and then stole second, then third on a missed pick-off throw with Langfeld batting.  Langfeld struck out and the Angels were again held scoreless, still up by ten runs.

Cunningham continued as pitcher for the Angels against Tracy leading off for the Indians in the sixth.  Tracy flied out to the second baseman, and Rothenbuhler followed him with a walk, giving the Indians a base runner.  Rothenbuhler stole second on a pitch in the dirt with Copple at the plate.  Copple's fly ball into right field was deep enough to score Rothenbuhler, and Copple stretched the single to a double as the Angels tried for a play at the plate.  Maximov singled on a grounder to short, but Copple could not advance.  Greenley grounded to second and the second baseman tagged Maximov out, but Copple scored and the Indians had a man on first base.  Greenley stole second on a wild pitch to Snediker, and then a pitch in the dirt provided the opportunity for a successful steal of third.  Snediker struck out swinging on a full count pitch, and the Indians rally was brought up short, the final score Angels thirteen, the Indians five.

The Indians stayed with it but a slow start to their fielding allowed the Angels to build a lead that proved too much to overcome.  The Angels brought a well rounded game and saw success for their consistency.

Game recap written by J. Michael Bergstrom.  All rights reserved.