Player of the Week: Trevor McKinley – Martin Methodist/Power

McKinley led the Power with six hits on the week and scored five runs. He swiped two bags and knocked in a run. The outfielder recorded a multi-hit game twice this week, with two hits against the Chill and two against the Jays.

Pitcher of the Week: Travis Booth – California Baptist/Power

Booth had a strong start on the mound for the Power against the visiting Cal Jays on Sunday. The righty out of CBU tossed eight innings, striking out eight, and only walked two batters. He allowed one run on five hits.

Team Recaps

Palm Springs Power – Jordan Quinn

The Palm Springs Power maintained their dominant play this week by raising their SCCBL-leading record to 26-0, 19-0 in league.  A 12-0 victory over the Palm Springs Chill was highlighted by Steve Boscia's (Hofstra) pitching performance (6 1/3 innings, no runs, six strikeouts). Next up was a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Force, in which Jeremy Gaines (Illinois) (two hits, one run) and Trevor McKinley (Martin Methodist) (one hit, one RBI )led the Power’s offense. The Power also received a strong pitching performance from Jack Jett (Hofstra) (six innings, two runs, five strikeouts). The Power closed the week with a 13-4 win over the California Jays that was highlighted by Jake Dahle (Utah) allowing only one earned run in seven innings, with five strikeouts.

San Diego Force – Cassidy Thornburg

The Force (8-9 in SCCBL play) had another full week of competition playing the Power out in Palm Springs on Wednesday night, and then hosting two doubleheaders against the Buccaneers and Pirates on Saturday and Sunday. They lost to the Power 5-2, but then had an incredible comeback on Saturday when they beat the Buccaneers 7-6 in the tenth after facing a 6-2 deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth. The Force took both games Saturday against the Pirates (4-0, 3-2). Hooper Mills (East Tennessee State) pitched a shutout through a complete nine innings. He had 106 pitches and seven strikeouts to get the W. Alex Blaszyk (Saddleback College) hit a triple on Saturday then his second home run of the season in the first game against the Pirates on Sunday. 

Inland Valley Pirates – Jordan Quinn

In week four of SCCBL play, the Inland Valley Pirates had three wins to lift their season record to 6-8. The week started with a 5-1 win over the Inland Valley Bucs, highlighted by home runs from Hayden Winters (Cypress) and CJ Larson (Santa Ana). Strong pitching performances by Nick Esparza (Hope International), Pat Showalter (Undecided), Darian Lopez, Austin Goddard (Saddleback) and Freddie Casteneda (Fullerton College) combined to give up three hits and one run, while picking up 11 strikeouts.  In an 8-7 victory over the Bucs, the Pirates had standout performances from Aaron Halpert (Undecided), who had three RBI with two hits and a walk. Andre Henson (Cal Poly Pomona) closed out the final two innings with five strikeouts. The final game of the week saw the Pirates defeat the SoCal Stros by a score of 5-3.

Cal Jays – Cassidy Thornburg

The Jays (8-8 in SCCBL play) played four and lost four. They lost to the SoCal Stros (5-4) to start the week and then dropped the three-game series to the Power to end it (10-9 (10), 13-4, 13-1). Although it was a tough week on the road, the Jays remain in the top half of league standings. Ricky Nunez (Cal State Monterey Bay) hit .447 on the week with two runs and seven hits. Dylan Kanoho (Riverside Community College) also put up good numbers at the plate with two runs, four hits, a double and two RBI to put him at a .444 batting average. The Jays will not compete again until July 5 when they begin a three-game series with the Pirates.

SoCal Stros – Cade Temple

Week four of the SCCBL was a good one for the SoCal Stros. They finished the week with a 2-1 record, with both wins the coming after trailing in the game. The Stros were able to squeeze runs across and hold the lead in both games, showing improvements from the last few weeks. A key component to the victories came from the bottom of the lineup producing base runners. In the win over the Jays, the last three hitters in the lineup scored a combined scored runs to push the Stros to a 5-4 victory. One excellent asset in the bottom of the lineup in this last week is Jake Rodriguez (Mt. SAC), who had a .625 batting average with five hits in two games, as well as two runs scored.

Inland Valley Bucs – Cade Temple

The Bucs struggled in week four of play, dropping all four contests. The Bucs offense showed that it has the ability to score, having dropped a game to the Pirates 8-7, one to the Stros 4-3 and one to the Force 7-6. Polishing up their pitching and defense will give the Bucs more chances to be successful.