The So-Cal Shepherds lost a tough one to the Inland Valley Pirates by the score of 11-4. This drops the Sheps record to 4-2 after two losses to these pirates on the year as the Pirates move to 6-2 in league play.
The shepherds came out of the gate early playing ABC baseball, getting back to back singles to start the game before advancing on a wild pitch and eventually scoring one on a fielder's choice.
The Pirates retaliated in the bottom of the inning as back to back two-out singles plated a runner from first to tie the game again at 1.
The Shepherds continued to manufacture runs as Shane Poe earned a walk in the top of the third before Aaron Zubiate hit a double to move him over to third as Drew Salyers would hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field to score Poe and put the Sheps back in the lead 2-1.
Starting pitcher for the Sheps Andrew White was dealing on the mound as he sat down 8 consecutive batters between the third and fifth inning.
After four scoreless innings for the Pirates, they found a way to break through in the sixth as an error and a double set up second and third with no outs. The tying run would score on a passed ball before a walk, double and two singles would score three more for the Pirates as a fourth was thrown out at home to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.
The Pirates would extend their lead in the next inning with four more runs after a bases loaded double and a single both scored two a piece as the Pirates went up by the score of 9-2.
They would continue to pour it on in the bottom of the 8th with a two-run homerun to make the lead 9 and make the score 11-2.
The Shepherds manufactured the two runs early but failed to get the bats going as they were held scoreless for five of the last six innings getting held to five hits the entire game while the Pirates bats woke up late as they ended up with 13 hits on the day.
The Sheps would get two runs in the ninth to make the eventual final score 11-4.
The Sheps look to bounce back Thursday against the East LA Dodgers at 4:30 PM at East LA College. To stay up to date on all things Shepherds baseball follow us on Instagram (@shepherds_baseball), Twitter (@SoCalShpherds), Facebook (Southern California FCA Baseball) and our new Tiktok (@Shepherdsbaseball).