Game Recaps

 The 2008 Golden Baseball League Championship's deciding Game 5 was as wild and unpredictable as the season itself.

But in the end, the Orange County Flyers were able to capture the 2008 crown thanks to Jeff LaRue's two run single through the drawn in infield.

Josh Arhart was awarded the Post-Season MVP award after a 2-4 performance and the Flyers win their first Golden Baseball League Championship behind Manager Gary Carter as the Flyers defeated the Calgary Vipers 10-9 Sunday night at Goodwin Field.

The game started off at a frantic pace, as the Calgary Vipers jumped out to a three run lead after the first three batters all reached base and scored thanks to RBI hits from Felix Jose and Richard Austin.

The Flyers got those runs back quickly as their first four batters reached with Josh Arhart cleaning up the bases with a two run homer to cap a four run first inning.

The sea-saw battle continued as Calgary answered back with doubles from Jorge Mejia and Colin Moro before Felix Jose drove in one with an RBI single.

Orange County tied the game in the third when Fernando Pacheco was hit by a pitch in the foot before scoring all the way from first on a Jermy Acey single.

The Flyers looked to jumped out to their biggest lead in the fourth after led off the inning with a solo homer and the Flyers scored both Mark Okano and David Bacani on a pair of past balls to hold an 8-5 lead.

But Calgary tied the game again in the sixth when Carlos Duncan singled and stole second, before Richard Austin walked and they were sacrificed to second and third by Nelson Castro. Patrick Arlis came through with a huge triple to score both runners, and scored himself on a throwing error on the attempt to catch him sliding into third.

Calgary then put the pressure on O.C. as Duncan again caused problems with a single and stolen base before advancing to third. And just how the Flyers scored two of their runs, the Vipers picked up the go ahead run on a Wild Pitch.

After failing to score in the eighth, the pressure mounted in the ninth, but Patrick Breen and Brian Rios both singled to finally knock out Viper's reliever Mac Suzuki. Josh Arhart then walked to load the bases, setting up LaRue's third clutch hit within a week.

Andre Simpson kept the Flyers in the game, throwing 3.2 innings after Jesse Smith was knocked out with a thumb injury.

Despite being saddled with the loss, Suzuki held the Flyers quiet for 4 and two thirds innings before turning the game over to Jon Huizinga.

The win caps a season in which the Flyers had four serious injuries after a juggernaugt first half that saw Patrick Breen set the single season home run mark with 28 and Jermy Acey set a single season RBI record with 97.

After LaRue's single, his teammates carried him on his shoulder before the trophy presentation.

 The Calgary Vipers rode seven and a third innings of excellent pitching from Joe Sergent en route to a 9-1 victory over the Orange County Flyers to tie the GBL Championship series at two games a piece.

Sergent, who picked up his third win of the post season, dominated the Flyers with eight strikeouts and had a two hit shutout before starting the eighth inning.

The Vipers' bats also did some damage, as Richard Austin was three for three with two RBI and three runs scored, while Kit Pellow was three for five with a pair of RBI.

The game slowly slipped away from Orange County, who committed five errors in the ball game, but only managed one run of support.

Mike Natale was saddled with the loss after four and two thirds innings of work for his first post season loss.

The deciding game five will be back at Goodwin Field at 6:05 Sunday night.

The Orange County Flyers pounded their way to a 14-9 win over the Calgary Vipers to earn a 2-1 series lead in the GBL Championship Series.

Bob Cramer pitched six strong innings and was given plenty of run support to pick up his second win of the postseason. 

The Flyers scored seven runs in the 2nd inning to break open a six-run lead.  Acey capped the outburst with a 3-run homerun. 

The Flyers picked up solo blasts from Terry Mermer and two from Brian Rios. 

Mike Natale will look to lead the Flyers to their first championship in franchise history Saturday night at Goodwin Field.  Friday's game was played at Mazmanian Field at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Calgary Vipers gave up eight runs in the third inning en route to a 13-1 beating at the hands of the Orange County Flyers in Game Two of the Golden Baseball League's Championship Series at Foothills Stadium in Calgary, Alberta in front of 1866 fans. Orange County also got a terrific start from Jesse Smith (2-0) who tossed six innings and did not give up on a run on five hits while walking only one and striking out five for the victory. With the loss this best of five series is now tied at one win a piece.

Jesse Smith (SP) of the OC Flyers pitched last year with the Salt Lake City Bee's and Akansas Travelers the AAA and AA teams of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Jesse had been in the Angels organization for the past six years but joined the Flyers shortly after the start of the season and has developed into one of the top two starting pitchers on the Flyers staff.  The one-two punch of Bob Cramer and Jesse Smith have gotten the Flyers deep into the playoffs and given them a reliable starter every time out.  So far in the 2008 GBL playoffs Smith has put up tremedous numbers: 14.2 Innings pitched while giving up only 10 hits, 2 ER, 5 BB and striking out 16.  Smith holds a playoff ERA of 1.27 in his three playoff apperances (2 starts and 1 huge relief outing in game 4 of the GBL Division Series).








Orange County jumped all over the scoreboard in the top of the third inning as David Bacani walked, Fernando Pacheco drove him in with a double, Jermy Acey walked, and Patrick Breen smacked a three run homerun. More runs were scored in the inning when Brian Rios singled, with two outs Terry Mermer reached on a fielding error by third baseman Carlos Duncan, Mark Okano doubled in two, and Bacani nailed a two run long ball for the 8-0 advantage.

A run was tacked onto the lead in the top of the fourth as Breen walked and scored on a Jeff LaRue RBI double for the 9-0 lead.

More runs were added in the top of the seventh inning with a Okano walk, Bacani single, and a Pacheco three run big fly. The Flyers then made it 13-0 when Breen, Gabe Mayorga, and LaRue all singled for a run.

Calgary got their lone run in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a Kit Pellow solo homerun.

Jeff Groeger (1-1) took the loss in the game in pitching two and two third innings and giving up four earned runs. Dallas Mahan and Evan Greusel did not give up any runs out of the bullpen in two and two third innings. 

This Championship Series now shifts to California with Game Three being played at Mazmanian Field at 7:05 PM on the Campus of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut which is ten minutes from where Orange County usually plays at Cal State Fullerton. The reason for the change in location is a concert being played at Goodwin Field on Friday night. Game Four will be played at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California on Saturday September 13th at 7:05 PM and if necessary Game Five will go Sunday September 14th at 6:05 PM.

The following is from Calgaryvipers.com
 

 The Orange County Flyers took the drama out of the see saw Southern Division Championship, crushing the Long Beach Armada 12-2 Sunday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton to clinch a Championship Series appearance.

Jermy Acey's launched a three run homer in the bottom of the first and the Flyers never looked back, as Bob Cramer crafter seven masterful innings only allowing one earned run as the Flyers dispatched easily of the cross town rivals.

Terry Memer and Josh Arhart added lengthy home runs and Andre Simpson and Dane De La Rosa pitched scoreless innings in relief.

The win completes the Flyers' series comeback as they trailed two games to one before Saturday's game.

Now the Flyers will head to Calgary for the Championship Series on Tuesday and Wendesday before the series shifts back to Fullerton over the weekend.

 It was a game built around excitement and busting slumps but after four hours of thrilling baseball, Mark Okano's walk-off home run proved to be the difference.

The game was tied for five innings as each team continued to miss opportunites before Okano launched the 2-1 offering into centerfield where Steve Moss leaped to try to bring the fly ball back into the ballpark. But the ball was hit a bit to high and the Flyers errupted in excitement as they now force a game 5 at Goodwin Field Sunday night.

The scoring started in the first as Julian Williams and Omar Bramasco continued to be a pain in the Orange County side as they combined for the first run of the game.

Jermy Acey answered back quickly with a solo home run the opposite way to tie the game at one.

But Dan Trumble was the first to break his streak, blasting a two out, two run homer in the top of the second to give Long Beach the lead.

The lead remained at two until the sixth when the Acey struck again with a single and a stolen base before advancing to third on a throwing error and scoring on a wild pitch.

After another missed opportunity, the Flyers pulled even in the eighth when Jeff LaRue broke his slump with an RBI single.

The game was then pushed into the thirteenth inning at three before Okano's heroics.

Much of the credit has to be attributed to both pitching staffs, as nine pitchers combined for 26 strike outs and held the totals runs scored to seven. Even more credit has to be given to the Flyers' bullpen that did not allow a run in six innings of work including evading numerous jams.

Jesse Smith got the win after 2.2 of excellent relief while Garrett Murdy was the tough luck loser.

The teams will meet for the final team in 2008, a deciding game five with a GBL Champioinship appearance at stake, with first pitch at 6:05.

 It was the Long Beach Armada's game from the outset as Omar Bramasco homered and they never looked back in a 13-4 route of the Orange County Flyers to take a 2-1 series lead Friday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Julian Williams furthered the damage finishing the night 3-5 with six RBI and Ryan Claypool held the Flyers offense in check picking up the win with a seven inning performance while allowing just two runs.

The Armada added six runs in the sixth to knock Flyer's starter Matt Durkin out of the ball game and saddle him while Long Beach scored all 13 of their runs before the Flyers could get on the board.

Long Beach moves into the driver seat while the series continues at Goodwin Field on Saturday at 7:05 with Jesse Smith and Dustin Gober scheduled to make the start for Orange County and Long Beach respectively.

Sportsmanship was on display Wednesday night at Blair Field in Long Beach as the Long Beach Armada came from behind twice to beat the Orange County Flyers 5-4 to tie the first round of the playoffs at one game a piece.

The two teams were bickering back and forth all night including one bench clearing incident and one player was ejected as emotions ran high.

But when Patrick Breen ran head first into the center field wall on the game ending play, the Long Beach Armada's entire roster stopped the celebration to check on the Flyer's center fielder.

The Orange County Flyers had a three run lead after five but watched the game slip away as the Long Beach Armada used Norm Hutchins' walkoff inside the park home run to tie the series at one game a piece.

Orange County controlled the game for almost the entirety of it but a misplayed fly ball in the sixth scored two runs and a balk allowed the runner to score from third to tie the game.

The Flyers grabbed the lead back in the eleventh as Josh Arhart's sacrifice fly scored Jeff LaRue to give Orange County the lead.

The Flyers brought in Dane De La Rosa but it was all for naught as the Armada finished the comeback.

The series now shifts back to Goodwin Field Friday night at 7:05 with Matt Durkin and Ryan Claypool set to start.

Patrick Breen injured his shoulder and required some stitches to fix the wound above his eye. He was released from the hospital and is currently day to day.

The Flyers blew the Armada away Tuesday night in game one of the Division Series by striking out the last 11 Armada hitters.  The Flyers bullpen faced nine hitters and struck all of them out to close a 4-2 win in style.

Orange County trailed 2-0 entering the 8th inning when David Bacani, Nick Guerra and Jermy Acey loaded the bases with nobody out for Patrick Breen.  Breen delivered with a two-run double to tie the game at 2-2.  With one out, Brian Rios gave the Flyers their first lead of the night by grounding a single through the right side to drive home Acey.

The Flyers added an insurance run in the 9th inning on a heads up baserunning play by Mark Okano.  Okano stole third during a break in play when the Armada infielders thought timeout had been called.

Long Beach built their lead behind a dominant start from Seth Etherton, who pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 12.

Game 2 will be tomorrow night at Blair Field featuring another great pitching matchup between Bob Cramer of the Flyers and Rik Currier of the Armada.

 Despite both teams being in the playoffs, the Orange County Flyers and the Long Beach Armada continued their rivalry to end the regular season.

The game was dominated by pitching until the ninth as the Flyers scored six to cruise to a 10-2 victory Sunday evening at Blair Field in Long Beach.

But before the run support came, Jeremy Zick dealt in what was his best outing of the year, a seven inning, five strikeout performance while allowing just one run to improve to 5-7 on the year.

One player who was hitting all game was Jeff LaRue. LaRue was a solid 4-5 with two runs scored to assure himself a .300 plus batting average on the year.

The Armada jumped out first, scoring in the second before Terry Mermer came up with a timely double to plate two and the Flyers never looked back.

Andrew Layfield was tagged with the loss for Long Beach as his control became a problem and his five walks lead to the two O.C. runs.

The Flyers finish the season with a franchise record 51 wins the second most total in GBL history.

The two teams will get Monday off before the Southern Division Championship Series begins Tuesday at Blair Field with Jesse Smith and Seth Etherton the scheduled starters.

The Long Beach Armada (27-17) needed a St. George loss and to beat the Orange County Flyers (22-20) Saturday night and that is exactly what happened.

The Armada lead by as many as four but held on to one for the final play of the game, winning 7-6.

With runners on first and second and two outs David Bacani shot a line drive into right field that appeared to tie the game, but Julian Williams threw out Josh Arhart to end the ball game and punched their ticket to play those same Flyers for the Southern Division Championship next week.

Dustin Gober pitched 5.2 innings to qualify for the win, keeping Orange County to just one run to improve to 5-8 on the year.

Charles Merricks was tagged for the loss to drop to 6-5 on the season.

With their back against the wall, the Armada played accordingly, scoring two runs in the top of the first as Steve Moss doubled in Julian Williams before scoring himself after Ryan Lehr's grounder hit the base umpire preventing David Bacani from handling the ball.

The Flyers got one of those runs back in the second when Travon Jackson singled up the middle to score Fernando Pacheco.

The Armada added two more in the seventh on Norm Hutchins' two rbi single before Steve Moss was thrown out going to third to prevent any more damage.

Terry Mermer got those runs back for Orange County with one swing of the bat, a two run blast clearing the nets over the left field fence and pulling the Flyers back within two.

But the Armada got those runs back as Cleatus Davidson hit a two run double before he got thrown out by a great relay from Travon Jackson, David Bacani, and Nick Guerra applying the tag.

However, Orange County did not quit Jeff Van Houten drew a walk to start the inning as a pinch hitter before Acey came up with a two out RBI double that appeared to be a homer but fortunately advanced safely to third after an error by the third basemen. Jeff LaRue then made it a one run ball game with a big two run homer to keep the pressure on Long Beach.

In the ninth, Nick Cavanaugh came on to close the game out. Josh Arhart walked to start of the inning and was sacrificed to second by Gabe Mayorga. Mark Okano then flew out for the second out of the inning. Patrick Breen pinch hit to draw the intentional walk before being ran for by Andre Simpson. David Bacani then came to the plate and Julian Williams became the hero as well as David Ramirez who made the tag.

Sunday the teams will meet in the regular season finale with nothing on the line. But Tuesday the Southern Division playoffs begin at Blair Field.

The Long Beach Armada continue to hold serve in the race for the 2nd half title in the GBL's South Division.  A 6-3 win over the Flyers at Blair Field guarantees that Long Beach will wake up Saturday in first place with two games left to play.

The Armada used one big five-run inning to overcome an early 3-0 deficit.  The Flyers jumped in front on a Fernando Pacheco homerun, but SP Rik Currier settled down to throw six strong innings and get his eighth win of the season. 

The five-run 3rd inning was keyed by two Flyers' errors and capped by a go-ahead two-run double from Steve Moss.

The six-game season-ending series will head back to Goodwin Field Saturday at 7 p.m.

Seth Etherton carried the Long Beach Armada(46-39,23-18 overall) for five and a third before Dan Trumble gave him some run support to push the Armada past the Orange County Flyers( 50-33, 22-18 overall) with a 3-1 victory to split the Thursday night doubleheader at Goodwin Field in Fullerton. 

Armada starter Seth Etherton shut down the Flyers for the first four and a third innings before the Flyers used just a pair of his to jump in front. Nick Guerra continued to be the thorn in the side of Long Beach as he tripled into the right field corner before Mark Okano improved to 2-2 from the left side with an RBI single the opposite way to give his starter, Smith, the lead.

Long Beach finally got to Jesse Smith in the sixth as Lehr was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Brett Flowers drew a walk to set up Dan Trumble. Trumble battled for a few pitches with Smith before finally launching a three run homer to take over the lead and give the Armada some support.

Long Beach Manager Steve Yeager went to his bullpen in the sixth, despite Etherton allowing just the one run while striking out eleven. Sean Buller then got into trouble allowing the first two batters to reach before Yeager turned to his closer Nick Cavanaugh who proceeded to escape the jam with two ground outs.

Cavanaugh pitched a solid seventh to pick up his fourtteenth save of the year.

The two teams continue the home and home series Friday in Long Beach with a 6:30 start.

As the race for the right to play the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs heats up, the Orange County Flyers (22-17,50-32 overall)seem intent on spoiling the Long Beach Armada's (23-17, 45-39 overall) chances.

Nick Guerra was the main culprit in the first game of the Thursday night double header as Guerra drove in all three of the Flyers runs in their 3-2 victory at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Josh Arhart also contributed with a 3-3 game and a run scored and called an excellent game, helping Flyer pitchers Mike Natale and Dane De La Rosa hold the Armada to just two runs.

Natale's performance was a beautiful 6 inning outing with both runs being earned while scattering seven hits and four strikeouts en route to bumping up his record to 4-1 while Dane De La Rosa pitched a perfect seventh with two strikeouts to earn his 14th save of the season.

After three and a half innings of scoreless baseball, Orange County broke the tie as Brian Rios singled to lead off the inning and was left at first until Josh Arhart singled with two outs to put runners on first and third. That set up Nick Guerra to drive in Rios, lining a single in front of Armada centerfielder Steve Moss to put the Flyers on the board first.

The Armada were finally able to turn the tide in the sixth as Julian Williams and Omar Bramasco both singled before being sacrificed to second and third by Steve Moss setting up Ryan Lehr's two RBI double to take the lead.

But Orange County responded quickly, after Fernando Pacheco and Josh Arhart singled, Guerra tallied two more RBI with a single down the right field line to put the Flyers back on top.

That was enough for Orange County as De La Rosa quickly dispatched of Long Beach in the seventh.

The teams got a thirty minute break before Orange County sent Jesse Smith to the hill to battle Seth Etherton and the Armada in game two.

The Long Beach Armada (23-16) stayed hot Tuesday night at Blair Field, which put them a step closer to clinching the last playoff spot in the GBL.  The Armada held their slim first place lead by taking down the Orange County Flyers 5-1.

Despite featuring great stuff, Bob Cramer gave up five runs through seven innings to take the loss.  He was outdueled by Andrew Layfield, who handled the Flyers over five innings.

Nick Cavanagh pitched two scoreless innings of relief to close the game out.

The Armada offense was an assortment of flairs, bloops and bleeders combined with some speed and clutch hitting.

The Flyers and Armada will continue their week long series with a doubleheader Thursday night at Goodwin Field.

(from Crackercats.ca)

Edmonton, AB—The Edmonton Cracker-Cats concluded their six game home stand, falling to the Orange County Flyers 8-3 in  front of 598 fans at Telus Field.  The Cats got off to an early 2-0 lead, but couldn’t hold on as the Flyers scored four runs in the  fourth to secure Orange County’s first and only victory of the series. 

 Cats starter, Erik Van Slyke pitched 6.1 innings.  His final numbers were 7H, 5R, 4ER, 1BB with 9 strikeouts.

 Matt Durkin got the start for the Flyers.  He went 7.0 innings, allowing 6H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB with 5 strikeouts. 

The OC FLYERS will start a 6 game home and home series with the LB Armada starting Tuesday in Long Beach @ 7pm.  Long Beach currently stands in first place in the South Division.

(The Following is from Calgaryvipers.com)

 

Matt Durkin gets the win now 2-2 on the season after pitching 2 innings of relief.  Andre Simpson gets his 1st save of the season giving up one run in the 9th.

Patrick Breen hits two HR's in the game leading the OC FLYERS with 5 RBI's in the game! 


(Following report is from oursportscentral.com)
The Calgary Vipers gave up two separate leads and five homeruns in losing 11-9 to the Orange County Flyers at Foothills Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. The Snakes led by as many as three runs but a huge three run homerun by league leader Patrick Breen in the top of the eighth inning put his team ahead for good. Calgary also gave up 17 hits in the game and has now lost 13 of their last 18 games to fall to 15-18 on the second half of the season.

Nelson Castro led off the bottom of the first inning with a double and he moved up to third base on a Colin Moro ground out. Castro scored on a Darryl Brinkley run batted in ground out for the 1-0 Calgary lead. With the double Castro extended his hitting streak to ten games.

The Flyers got that run back in the next half inning as Fernando Pacheco singled, Mark Okano was hit by a pitch, and Josh Arhart picked up a RBI base hit for the 1-1 score.

Orange County grabbed the lead in the top of third frame with a David Bacani triple and a Patrick Breen two run homer for the 3-1 advantage.

Calgary got back onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning with a Carlos Duncan walk, Felix Jose double, Jorge Mejia RBI ground out, and a clutch two out RBI single from Jorge Tang to tie the game at three.

Right back responded the Flyers as Jeff LaRue hit a solo homerun in the next half inning to give his team back the lead at 4-3.

The back and forth game continued in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Snakes put up four runs to retake the lead at 7-4. Patrick Arlis started the inning with a base hit, Castro followed with a walk, and Moro singled to load the bases. Brinkley tied the game with a sacrifice fly and then Duncan, Jose, and Mejia all picked up three straight RBI singles to give Calgary a three run lead.

A run was taken back in the top of the sixth when Arhart doubled and after his pop fly fell in foul territory Jeff Van Houten also doubled to make the score 7-5.

Orange County continued to chip away in the top of the seventh frame as Breen led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch, third base on a Pacheco base hit, and he scored on another wild pitch for the 7-6 game.

Duncan smashed a solo homerun, his eighth of the season, in the bottom of the inning to put the Vipers back up by two runs at 8-6.

Once again though the Flyers responded in the top of the eighth inning as with two outs Bacani walked, Acey singled, and Breen hammered his second homerun of the night to give his team their third lead of the game at 9-8.

Two more long balls were hit in the top of the ninth as Pacheco and Arhart both went deep for the 11-8 Orange County advantage.

The Vipers closed out the scoring in the bottom of the ninth with a Mejia double and Tang RBI base hit for the 11-9 final.

P.J. Bevis (1-5) suffered the loss in giving up three homeruns while Matt Durkin (2-2) picked up the victory in throwing two innings out of the bullpen. Andre Simpson (1) recorded his first save of the year in tossing the ninth frame.

As the expression goes "That's why the play the game" rang especially true as two of the top pitchers in the Golden Baseball League got hung with a loss.

After Calgary ace, Evan Greusel got banged up by Orange County in game one, Flyers' ace Bob Cramer was the victim of bad defense and poor run support as the Vipers(15-17) topped Orange County (16-14).

The Vipers peppered Cramer for singles also forcing the Flyers to commit three errors in the game.

Calgary got to Cramer first after Jorge Tang singled and moved to third on a Travis Drader single before scoring on Kevin Price's single into left field.

The Vipers picked up two unearned runs in the third after a botched double play kept the inning going allowing Jorge Tang to drive in a run with a single.

Calgary grabbed another run in the fourth as the Vipers scattered three hits within the first four batters with Carlos Duncan's infield single scoring one. The game then got busted open with the bases loaded as Jorge Mejia cranked a hopper down the line that was misplayed by the Flyers infield to score all three runners and make it a seven run lead.

Josh Arhart got the Flyers on the board in the sixth with a solo blast, giving the Flyers just their second hit against Sobkow in the game. Travon Jackson followed that with a triple before David Bacani added a RBI single to plate Jackson. Two batters later Jeff LaRue plated Bacani with a single into left field to keep the threat alive. But Sobkow was able to get O.C. to strand two runners.

Ultimately the comeback fell short and Sobkow improved to 2-4 on the year throwing six quality innings.

Both teams will get two days off before meeting in Calgary Tuesday night at 6pm Pacific time.

The Orange County Flyers(16-13) road a seven run third inning to a 10-7 victory over the Calgary Vipers (14-17) and their ace Evan Greusel in the first game of a double header Saturday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

David Bacani lead the Flyers with a perfect four for four game, knocking in four runs including a big three run triple as apart of the Flyers big third inning.

Jeremy Zick ate up seven innings for the Flyers to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Calgary struck first when Nelson Castro singled then advanced to third on a failed pick off setting up Demond Smith for an RBI groundout. Darryl Brinkley doubled before Felix Jose scored him with a single off the wall in right center.

Orange County answered back in the bottom of the inning as David Bacani laced a doubled down the third base line before Jermy Acey blasted his 20th homer of the year, a two run shot to tie the game at two.

Calgary jumped back in front when Travis Drader ripped a two run homer off Zick in the second.

The Flyers put together a two out rally in the bottom of the inning with Keesee singling, Jackson drawing a hit by pitch, before Bacani drove in Keesee with a single.

In the third, Patrick Breen tied the game with a leadoff homer before O.C. continued to get to Greusel. Jeff LaRue doubled down the line, followed by a bunt single by Fernando Pacheco. Mark Okano then bounced an infield single and advanced to second when Greusel threw the ball into right field, scoring LaRue.

After David Keesee reached on an error to load the bases, Travon Jackson landed a single softly in center advaning everyone one base and scoring Pacheco. Bacani then came through with the big hit, a three run triple down the right field line. Acey proceeded to knock Greusel out of the game with an RBI single to make it a seven run inning.

The VIpers added one run in each of the final three innings, as Felix Jose scored thanks to an error, Travis Drader hit a solo homer, and Jorge Mejia hit an RBI single to make the game 10-7.

The teams took a 30 minute break before meeting in game two with Bob Cramer and Phil Sobkow the starters.

The Orange County Flyers (16-13) rode two big offense innings to a 12-7 victory over the Calgary Vipers (14-17) Friday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

The game started with a rough inning for Calgary and got worse from there as pretty much every Flyer got in on the action, with O.C. finishing with seventeen hits, including  eight of nine starters finishing with a hit.

Matt Durkin was solid through seven innings, scattering five hits and two runs while striking out seven to improve to 1-2 on the year.

Despite giving up a leadoff triple, Matt Durkin worked out of a jam,striking out the next two batters before inducing Felix Jose to fly out to left to end the threat.

After the threat was ended, Calgary Manager Mike Busch came out to get an explanation from home plate umpire Steve Fritzoni but was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.

Things got worse from there for Calgary as Mark Okano and Jeff Van Houten reached before Patrick Breen singled home Okano setting up Jeff LaRue. Moments after Flyer radio announcer Jordan Moore mentioned the Flyers having yet to hit a ball hard, LaRue blasted a three run homer over the netting in left field to set the Flyers out in front.

Orange County poured it on in the second as the first seven batters of the inning reached base with the first out coming on a Josh Arhart sacrifice fly. However, the sac fly chased Mahan from the game after allowing six runs in the inning and leaving a runner on base.

Jermy Acey continued to try to catch teammate Patrick Breen in the race for a triple crown as he launched an opposite field home run over the right field wall.

Felix Jose finally added a blemish to Matt Durkin's excellent outing in the sixth, driving a solo shot to get Calgary on the board. Calgary added another run in the inning when Jorge Mejia doubled in Carlos Duncan. 

Calgary cut into the lead in the eighth as Carlos Duncan launched a three run homer to cut the O.C. lead in half. Jorge Tang then singled in Jorge Mejia to cut the Flyer lead to five.

Calgary loaded the bases in the ninth, but Dane De La Rosa closed the door for his thirteenth save of the year.

Both teams meet Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 5:05 for Desperate Housewives night.

A see saw battle turned into a three hour and forty five minute marathon as the Edmonton Cracker Cats (19-11) edged out the Orange County Flyers (15-13) 11-9 Thursday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Joe Schmaal picked up the win with 2 and 2/3 innings of relief while Josh Morban and Ruddy Yan powered the offense both going 4-6.

The Flyers answered back in the bottom of the inning as Terry Mermer singled into left field to score Pacheco. The Flyers then took the lead later in the inning when Peterson beaned Acey with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Jose Morban turned the tide, launching a two run homer in the third to put Edmonton back in front.

Edmonton added another run in the fifth, as Ruddy Yan knocked in John Pasieka with a single.

But Orange County rallied in the fourth, Terry Mermer walked followed by a Travon Jackson single. David Bacani followed with an RBI single. Acey  then singled to center, scoring Jackson, and a throwing error allowed Bacani to score as well.

The Cracker Cats regained the lead in the sixth after Castro doubled and Marcus Nettles beat out his second infield hit of the game to pick up the RBI. Ruddy Yan then doubled allowing Nettles to score all the way from first to put Edmonton back in front.

Edmonton then built the biggest lead of the game in the seventh as the first two batters reached before being sacrificed to second and third. That set the table for Jon Castro who singled in both Jiannetti and Van Rossum to extend the lead to three.

The Flyers were finally able to chip away at Schmaal after three innings of relief as Breen walked, Arhart singled, before Pacheco's single scored Breen from second. But that's all they were able to get as Robert Coello came in to shut the door.

Edmonton added two more runs in the eighth looking to pull away but O.C. would not stop.

With two outs in the eighth, Jermy Acey doubled off the center field wall right before Patrick Breen blasted a two run homer well over the trees in right field.

The Cracker Cats added another run to cushion the lead in the ninth when Joe Jiannetti drove in Carlos Arroyo with a single to extend the lead to three.

Edmonton went back to their closer Pete Sikaras a night after he blew the save in game one. After allowing a run and two runners on with just one out, Sikaras got a double play to pick up his 15th save of the year.

Orange County goes right back to action Friday night welcoming the Calgary Vipers to Goodwin Field Friday night.

It took a combined five extra innings, but Orange County swept Edmonton in a double header thanks to two walk off homers in one day Wednesday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Jermy Acey's eighth inning homer was the dagger as Acey's homer broke a four-four tie to give the Flyers their second 5-4 win  on the evening and moves Orange County (15-12) into a tie for first place in the second half.

Mike Natale got the complete game victory holding the Cracker Cats to four runs over innings to improve to 3-0 in his return to Orange County.

Edmonton avoided two double plays in the first inning before Joe Jiannetti cashed in with a three run homer to put the Cracker Cats out in front early.

The Flyers began chipping away immediately as Bacani singled to leadoff the inning, advancing to second on an error and third on a groundout. Jermy Acey drove Bacani in with a single.

Orange County got to Van Slyke for two more in the third, as Jackson and Keesee singled before Bacani plated Jackson with a single and Acey drove in his second run of the game to tie it up at three. The Flyers were able to take the lead as Van Slyke threw a wild pitch, allowing Bacani to score.

The Cracker Cats were able to tie the game in the fifth after a Ruddy Yan triple setup a Carlos Arroyo single to even it up at four.

Both starters kept the opposing offenses quiet for the next seven outs before Van Slyke walked Jackson, Keesee, and Bacani with two outs in the seventh putting Nick Guerra in position to win the game on any mistake from Van Slyke.

But Van Slyke got out of it setting up Acey's heroics in the eighth.

Both teams will meet Thursday to finish the three game set with first pitch set for 7:05.

It took two late innings home runs and great defense for the Flyers pulled out their first extra,5-4, inning victory of the year Wednesday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Down two runs in the seventh, Josh Arhart proved to be the hot bat for O.C. driving out a two run homer before Fernando Pacheco ended the game with a walk off in the tenth.

After the first three innings were scoreless, the Flyers were the first to blink as Ruddy Yan's singled put him on third after a two base error before Carlos Arroyo cashed him in with a RBI single. Edmonton then scored Arroyo later in the inning despite hitting into a double play.

Edmonton's Ricardo Rodriguez held the Flyers hitless through three before Nick Guerra singled up the middle in the fourth. Jermy Acey cashed him in two pitches later with a triple down the left field line.

Jose Valdez extended the lead back to two with a solo homer to lead off the fifth.

But Nick Guerra left the yard in the sixth to pull the Flyers back within one with his second homer as a Flyer.

However, Chris Van Rossum got that run back in the seventh with another leadoff homer giving the Cracker Cats a 4-2 lead.

In the seventh, Edmonton turned things over to the league leader in saves, Pete Sikaras. But Orange County rallied, as Jeff LaRue singled to start the inning before Josh Arhart blasted a game tying two run homer.

Arhart then saved the Flyers defensively, throwing out Nettles trying to steal second in the top of the inning.

Finally, it took 10 innings to decide the first seven inning game before Fernando Pacheco blasted a walk- off homer to give the Flyers a 5-4 victory in game one.

Dan Touchet gave up the blast to fall to 3-5 on the year.

Flyer's starter Andre Simpson lasted seven innings before turning things over to Dane De La Rosa who went three innings for the win to improve to 2-2.

The teams took a 30 minute break before meeting in game two.

The Orange County Flyers powered their way past the St. George RoadRunners 11-7 Monday with a five homerun barrage at Bruce Hurst Field.

Jeff LaRue smashed two solo blasts and rookie Terry Mermer cracked two opposite field homeruns, including his first career homerun.  Patrick Breen added his league leading 23rd homerun of the season.

Bob Cramer pitched seven innings to earn his sixth straight win. 

The Flyers were shorthanded without the injured Jermy Acey, Jeff Van Houten and Brian Rios, but the new Flyers, Mermer and David Keesee, stepped up in the victory. 

The St. George RoadRunners exploded for five runs in the 7th inning to beat the Flyers 9-6 in Utah and grab hold of 1st place in the South Division for the second half.

The Flyers came back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game 3-3 on a Jermy Acey 3-Run HR.  They took a 4-3 lead when David Bacani drove home Travon Jackson in the 5th inning.

Matt Durkin was dominant through the middle innings and left the game with a lead, but he also left with the bases loaded and nobody out.  Mike Natale could not pitch the Flyers out of the jam as Juan Melo and Eddy Garabito came through with clutch hits.

Terry Mermer, who recently signed with the Flyers, delivered a pinch-hit RBI double for his first professional hit in the 8th inning.

After a day off Sunday, Bob Cramer will close the series on the mound for the Flyers Monday night at 7:15 p.m. in the mountain time zone.

In a match up that has featured multiple offensive explosions, the finale of five straight games in Orange County ended in a pitchers duel.

The Orange County Flyers (12-11) picked up another split with the St. George RoadRunners (13-10) behind an excellent outing from starter Jesse Smith who earned a complete game victory with the 3-2 win.

In a matchup that saw the Flyers face their former teammate, Monte Mansfield, it was Nick Guerra's new face that helped O.C. past St. George.

The Flyers got to their ex-teammate, Monte Mansfield, in the third after a Jeff Van Houten walk and Travon Jackson single. A ground out moved the runners to second and third before Mansfield balked to score Van Houten. Jermy Acey then pushed across Jackson with a single to give Orange County a 2-0 lead.

Seth Loman cut the lead in half in the fifth, connecting against Smith for a solo homer off of the base of the scoreboard in left field.

Nick Guerra continued to impress in a Flyer uniform, driving a double into left center field scoring Jackson and giving back the Flyers a two run lead.

The RoadRunners pulled back within one as Juan Melo doubled to lead of the seventh before a wild pitch advanced him to third. Cody Nowlin then grounded out to plate Melo to make the game 3-2 with one out.

With two outs, Smith struck out Loman to end the game giving him seven strike outs on the evening.

The teams are not finished with each other yet, as both teams travel to St. George for a weekend two game series.

The St. George Roadrunners(13-9) used three home runs to down the Orange County Flyers (11-11) in the first game of a double header Friday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

St. George battled back and forth before Eddy Garabito's two run shot proved to be the game winner in the fifth.

Justin Abbott threw five innings to pick up the win to improve to 4-3.

After falling behind by three runs in the second thanks to two St. George homers From Angel Sanchez and Juan Serrano but Orange County came roaring back.

Josh Arhart got the Flyers on the board in the second with a RBI single before the Flyers offense began to click.

In the third, the Flyers took the lead thanks to a three run triple from Nick Guerra before he scored on a sac fly from Jeff Van Houten to cap a four run inning.

St. George regained the lead in the fifth on the back of another Eddy Garabito two run homer.

St. George held the one run lead into the seventh, when Patrick Breen walked to start the bottom of the inning. Bartolome Fortunato got Rios to bunt back to him in the air before doubling up Patrick Breen for the double play. Jeff LaRue singled but Fortunato got Guerra to strike out to end the game.

Charles Merricks threw a complete game for the Flyers battling through seven innings with over 120 pitches but was hung with the loss to drop to 5-3 on the year, while striking out  four.

The teams took a 30 minute break before meeting in game two.

In a series that has resembled two boxers exchanging blows, the St. George RoadRunners (12-9) knocked down the defending Southern Divison Champion Orange County Flyers (11-10) with a 14-4 blowout Wednesday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Eight of the St. George starters got a hit while seven drove in runs as the RoadRunners scored fourteen times on nineteen hits. Juan Melo lead the way with a 3-6 evening with four RBI and two runs scored while Greg Lemon contributed greatly from the nine hole going 3-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Mac Nelson kept the Orange County offense to just a pair of runs while scattering four hits and seven strikeouts over six innings while picking up his second win of the year.

The game was a pitcher's duel through the first three innings before the St. George offense exploded on Flyer's All-Star Andre Simpson.

St. George forced Simpson to throw a lot of pitches early. With two outs, the RoadRunners strung together three straight hits to score a run on a Juan Melo single.

St. George added another run in the second on the first pitch of the inning Seth Loman launched a solo homer over the fence in right center field to double the lead. The RoadRunners proceeded to load the bases before Simpson was able to get out of the jam.

Orange County cut the lead in half in the third when Mark Okano drove in Gabe Mayorga giving the Flyers their first run and hit simultaneously.

But Juan Melo got the run back and added another blasting an opposite field two run homer to give St. George a 4-1 lead in the fifth.

Things unraveled from there for Simpson, as Cody Nowlin was hit by a pitch, Eddy Garabito singled, and Loman doubled to load the bases. Angel Sanchez then hit a sacrifice fly to score Nowlin before Greg Lemon hit a three run homer to cap off a six run inning. Simpson was subsequently knocked out on a base hit which eventually came around to score to end his night.

Nick Guerra made an impressive debut cranking out his first Flyer home run in his first at bat after coming in for an injured Gabe Mayorga.

St. George added four more in the seventh on four hits to extend the lead to eleven.

With two outs in the ninth the Flyers had four consecutive batter reach base, scoring a run and loading the bases before a balk score another run.

Andre Simpson was hung with the loss, dropping to 8-5 on the year.

Both teams will get Thursday off before meeting in a doubleheader Friday afternoon at Goodwin Field starting at 5:30.