PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - The race remains tight after the fifth week of play for the SCCBL.  The Power regained the top spot on the SCCBL leaderboard after a perfect 5-0 week. The Pirates sit just a game behind the Power with the Force two back of the leaders.  The Bulldogs are half a game back of the Force to round out the top-four teams currently in the running for playoff spots.

The Palm Springs Power rebounded well from a tough Week Four, posting a 5-0 record and moving back into first place in the SCCBL. The Power opened the fifth week of summer ball with a 14-0 victory over the San Diego Force on Tuesday night, led by RHP Jonathan Buckley’s (St. Mary’s) seven innings of shutout ball and six extra-base hits from the squad’s high-octane lineup. The big win sparked some momentum for Palm Springs, who grabbed another victory over the Force on Wednesday, 6-2, and closed out the week with a three-game weekend sweep of the SoCal Bombers (7-3, 4-3, 4-1). Leading the charge for the Power lineup once again, 1B/OF Matt Green batted .353 (6-17) with three doubles and four runs scored across all five games this week. OF Brady Shockey (USC) also dominated at the plate, hitting .368 with a home run and a team-high six RBIs, one of which came on a walk-off single against the Bombers Saturday night. Closer Darin May (Cal Poly Pomona) enjoyed another lights-out week of relief, striking out seven opponents over three and two-thirds perfect innings to earn a win, a save, and lower his season ERA to a miniscule 0.58. Now owning a 10-5 SCCBL record, the Power hold a one-game lead over the Pirates for first place.

Though they slipped into second place, the Inland Valley Pirates notched another solid week, advancing their record to 10-8 after going 2-1 against conference opponent Inland Valley Bucs. The Pirates were led by a potent offense, scoring 19 runs in three games. Chase Wehenser (Baylor) swung a hot bat for the Pirates this week. He saw the ball extremely well, going a perfect 6-6 in the last two games of the week. He went 3-3 in both games, scoring three runs and knocking in three in the process. Relief pitching shined for the Pirates during the week. Both wins were hard-fought and closer Travis Jackson, (College of Southern Nevada) and reliever Trip Aversa (Azusa Pacific) played a big role. In the 9-8 victory over the IV Bucs, Aversa tossed a lights-out 3.1 innings, giving up no hits and serving up three strikeouts before handing the ball over to Jackson. Jackson came into both victories this week and shut the door to earn two saves with four strikeouts against six total batters.The Inland Valley Pirates have one more game against the Inland Valley Bucs and will wrap up the season series on July 2 at home at 7 p.m.

The San Diego Force wrapped up their week at their Fourth of July Tournament in San DIego.  The tournament started on Friday and will continue through Tuesday. Last week’s SCCBL Pitcher of the Week, Ryan Losman (Southeast Missouri), had another dominant performance. He tossed five shutout innings against Thunder BCC, striking out 11 to earn the win.  David Hudleson was solid at the plate, going 3-3 against the Cal Jays to go 4-5 on the week with three doubles and four RBI.

Riverside Bulldogs fell a bit short this week going 0-2 with a tough 19-18 loss to conference opponent, SoCal Bombers. The Bulldogs offense continues to produce big numbers, keeping the Bulldogs in the hunt for the playoffs. This week the Bulldogs travel the Palm Springs for a big three-game series against conference leader Palm Springs Power. The Riverside Bulldogs’ offense was on fire, producing 30 hits in three  games. Everyone contributed, from top to bottom of the lineup. Catcher Cole Cooper continues to be a key bat for the Bulldogs, going 5-8 this week batting .625 with one double, four runs scored and one RBI. Despite two losses, starting pitching was solid for the Bulldogs. Both Cade Kirkemo (Cal Poly Pomona) and Michael Coppens (Riverside City College) both produced quality starts. Kirkemo dealt for four scoreless innings, only giving up two hits while striking out five in their 6-3 loss. Coppens carved through the lineup, striking out 11 in his outing of five innings pitched, four hits and one earned run in their 6-3 loss to the Colton Nighthawks.

The Inland Valley Buccaneers played .250 ball in Week Five, taking one out of three games from the Pirates and dropping a lone match up with the Bombers for a 1-3 record. Monday night saw the Bucs earn a 7-5 win over their Inland Valley relatives after rallying for a huge six-run fourth inning, capped off by Kory Brown’s first of two homeruns on the week. The success was short lived, however, as the Bucs dropped a Wednesday evening contest with the Bombers, 8-4, before falling in two close showdowns (9-8, 5-2) with the Pirates on Friday and Saturday at Amerige Park. Despite RHP Peter Eitapence’s (Citrus College) strong start of four scoreless innings against the Bombers on Wednesday, the Bucs’ starting pitchers slumped to the tune of a 5.79 ERA. Though the Bucs struggled on the mound, their lineup benefited from some huge individual contributions, including Brown’s two blasts and five RBIs, Tyus Santa Anna’s (UCSB) .625/.700/.750 slash line, and Christian Valdez’s (Cal Poly Pomona) .500 (5-10) week with four walks and four runs scored. Still stuck in fifth place in the SCCBL standings with a 6-9 record, the Buccaneers sit a game-and-a-half behind the Riverside Bulldogs for the final playoff spot.

The SoCal Bombers split their week, taking down the Bulldogs (19-18), Bucs (8-4), and Dovetail Bats (8-6) to start the week before dropping three to the Power (7-3, 4-3, 4-1).  Donovyn Curiel led the Bombers at the plate, going 8-18 (.444) with two doubles. James Arakawa (Pacific) knocked in eight runs on six hits and Colton Talton (Dodge City Community College) crushed two home runs to lead the league with four on the season.  Jacob Gonzalez dominated on the mound against the Power in his start, giving up two earned runs in eight innings and striking out 10.