East County Sports

Stars overcome irrigation error to sweep Saints

2019 SAN DIEGO STARS BASEBALL

 

By Nick Pellegrino
East County Sports staff writer

BALBOA PARK (6-10-2019) – A pair of San Diego Stars pitchers – Giancarlo Cortez and Bailey Roberson – carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, as the Stars topped the South Bay Saints, 6-3, in the first game of a Western Baseball Association doubleheader on Sunday (June 9). The contest was moved to Morley Field after Stars Field at Barona was accidentally flooded when someone forgot to turn off the sprinkling system.
Cortez, who allowed just one unearned run to lift St. Augustine High past Granite Hills in a CIF Division I playoff contest last month, fired three no-hit innings, again getting burned for an unearned run.

Roberson, a recent El Capitan grad, followed with three no-hit innings of his own, gaining the pitching victory after the Stars mounted a 5-1 advantage.

Roberson would go five full frames, then Tyler Luban overcame a two-out single in the ninth to garner the save on a game-ending strikeout.

Trailing 1-0, Stars No. 9 hitter Carl Bunday, the left fielder, stroked a go-ahead, two-run double to score shortstop Tristan Salinas (single) and catcher Luke Arias (walk) in the second for San Diego (5-0 overall).

An inning later, third baseman Joey Krug belted a run-scoring double to bring home second baseman Reece Hernandez (lead single).  Two batters later, center fielder Ryan Major singled home both first baseman Dallas Seidel (walk) and Krug to push the advantage to 5-1.

After the Saints (the summer program for CSU Dominguez Hills) ended the no-hit bid with a pair of runs in the seventh, the Stars immediately answered with a series of two-out at-bats.

Reserve left fielder Cabot Von Til singled, pinch-hitter Shawn Knutson walked, followed by an RBI base hit by designated hitter Tyler Lindsay

For the contest, Bunday batted 2-for-3 and walked twice to fuel the unbeaten Stars.

By Nick Pellegrino
East County Sports staff writer

BALBOA PARK (6-10-2019) – San Diego Stars third baseman Joey Krug is sometimes referred to by teammates as simply “J.K.”
This came to greater fruition following a base-running accident left Krug with a broken leg, one like famous French downhill skier Jean-Claude Killy (also “J.K.”) could’ve (yet didn’t) experience as an Olympic champion in the 20th Century.
Fortunately for Krug, his recovery is so complete, he is again trying his hand at pitcher. And his summer debut was strong.
Krug pitched a pair of no-hit innings in relief to gain the victory, as the Stars completed a doubleheader sweep by taking out the South Bay Saints, 4-2, in Western Baseball Association action at Morley Field.
Krug faced just seven batters, striking out one and walking one. Meanwhile, the Stars overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit to take the lead at 3-2 through four innings to qualify Krug for the victory.
The comeback saw the Stars score once in the third inning on a two-out single by left fielder Ryan Culp.
An inning later, the Stars forged the lead on a 2-run homer by Shane Coleman. Catcher Luke Arias started the inning with a leadoff single, then Coleman crowned the ball to right field with his first homer of the summer.
The Stars bullpen then took over, as Tristen Salinas tossed two shutout innings, then Ryan Skillman capped the 7-inning contest with another strong inning for the save.

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