PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Palm Springs Power remains on top of the SCCBL standings and look to clinch the top seed heading into the playoffs.  The IV Pirates are not far behind, as is the case with the San Diego Force. The IV Bucs and Riverside Bulldogs will battle it out for the final spot in the playoffs when they face off later in the week.

The Palm Springs Power took a cue from the Southern California weather with scorching hot play in Week Six, muscling out a 4-0 record with a Fourth of July exhibition win over the Palm Springs Collegiate League All-Stars (9-6) and a three-game sweep of the Riverside Bulldogs (8-1, 7-4, 8-4). Jonathan Buckley painted a masterpiece on the mound Tuesday night against Riverside, improving his ERA to 1.08 by way of seven innings of one-run ball. Notching nine strikeouts to bring his season total to an SCCBL tied-best 41 K’s, Buckley holds a slight edge over teammate Blakeny Kearbey (Harris Stowe), who used a 10-strikeout performance in Saturday’s win over the Bulldogs to increase his season tally to 39. Infielder Austin Reyes (Santa Clara) led the way at the plate for Palm Springs, hitting .400 (6-15) with two runs scored and four RBIs while tacking on four stolen bases. Holding a 13-5 SCCBL record, the Power remain in first place and conclude league play on Monday with a road doubleheader against the Inland Valley Bucs at Citrus College. The Power control their own fate as the final week of the regular season kicks off, needing two wins or a win and a Pirates loss to outright clinch first place and the top seed in the SCCBL playoffs.

The Inland Valley Pirates continued their winning ways this week going 3-1 overall and 2-1 in league play. Going into the last week of the regular season, the Pirates find themselves in position to make playoffs. They sit in second place in the standings only two games back of the league-leading Power and will face off against the bottom Bulldogs and Bombers this week before taking on the San Diego Force in the final league games of the season.  The Pirates offense was solid in their three wins this week. They saw solid performances from Aaron Halpert (Cypress College) and Chase Wehesner (Baylor). The reigning SCCBL Player of the Week, Wehesner remained hot batting .357 this week with three runs, three walks and an RBI to his credit. His teammate, Halpert, hit at a clip of .333 this week as he racked four hits and scored a run. The pitching stepped it up this week to backup the solid offense for the Pirates. Left hander, Andrew Henson (Cal Poly Pomona) was on point in his win against the SoCal Bombers. Henson diced up his opponents, serving seven strikeouts in his four innings of work and allowed no hits.  The Pirates go into the week riding a hot hand as they look to close out the regular with a good deal of momentum going into playoffs. They open this week at Santiago HS, home of the Riverside Bulldogs, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The San Diego Force, much like the California weather,  can’t seem to cool down, as they are currently on a hot streak. The Force had a busy week with seven games, which they one all of, including going 2-0 in their doubleheader against the SoCal Bombers.  They used the other five games to grab their Fourth of July Tournament Championship. At the end of Week Six, the Force find themselves in the middle of the pack in third-place with a 10-8 record in the conference standings, just a game behind the Inland Valley Pirates who sit at 10-6. Along with the hot bats, the guys on the mound got the job done this week. The Force pitchers, led by Brent McDonald (Riverside City College), Masa Tamaguchi, and Avery Wood (Consumnes River College), kept the runs to a minimum this week posting a team ERA of 2.47 by only giving up 17 earned runs in 62 innings of work. In his first week with the Force, Phil Steering (Hawai’i Hilo) had no trouble warming up to his new team. In 12 at-bats, Steering posted five hits, one double, and two RBI. Other contributors, such as James Shimashita and David Hudleson (College of Southern Idaho), helped their team increase their team batting average for the week, which sits at an impressive .320. With playoffs nearing, the Force have built up a good deal of momentum that they look to carry into the final week of league play.   They conclude the season with a twin bill against the Pirates on July 15.

The Inland Valley Buccaneers enjoyed a perfect 4-0 week of baseball, defeating the Pirates Monday night by a final of 11-2 before sweeping through three non-league games against the Dovetail Bats and Cal Jays. LHP Aaron Bernal (Minot State) enjoyed his second consecutive impressive start on the mound, firing five shutout innings while allowing only two hits in the team’s win over the Pirates. The southpaw’s success on the hill set the tone for the week, as the Bucs’ pitching staff combined to allow only four earned runs across 34 innings pitched. On the offensive side, 1B/C Kory Brown continued his torrid hitting, batting .429 (6-14) with a pair of RBIs on the week. Now holding a 7-9 SCCBL record, the Bucs stand in fourth place with a half-game lead over the Bulldogs (7-10 SCCBL). With four league contests left, the Bucs could potentially finish in a tie for second place with the Pirates or Force, but for now aim to stave off the Bulldogs for fourth place and the final SCCBL playoff spot. The Buccaneers play host to the Power for a doubleheader on Monday and the Bombers on Thursday, before hitting the road for a potentially pivotal matchup with the Bulldogs in their SCCBL regular season finale Friday evening.

The Bulldogs are fifth in the conference standings going into the last week of the regular season. Only a half game out of playoff contention, their last three games this week are crucial for their potential spot in the playoffs.  The Bulldogs struggled to keep up with the Force this week. Angel Ortiz (Cal Poly Pomona) was a bright spot for the Bucs, batting .428 with three runs, two RBI, and a stolen base. Despite the rough week for the Riverside Bulldogs, they still have a shot at clinching the fourth and final seed for the playoffs.

The SoCal Bombers' struggles continued this week after going 0-4 in conference play against the Inland Valley Pirates and a hot San Diego Force club. As of now, the Bombers sit in last place with a conference record of 4-13 going into the final week of the season. The offense posted a team batting average of .181 and 50 of the 166 at-bats this week were strikeouts. The pitchers had a team ERA of 8.12.  The SoCal Bombers look to finish out the 2018 season on a bright note as they finish with the Riverside Bulldogs, IV Bucs, and IV Pirates.