July 26

WRITTEN BY ANDY STERNS

WANTED: BASEBALL FANS WITH NERVES OF STEEL AND A WELLSPRING OF OPTIMISM TO RELENTLESSLY ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM, MERCILESSLY HECKLE THE OPPOSITION AND KEEP THE UMPIRES ON THEIR TOES.

After the Goldpanners pulled victory from a game that appeared destined for extra innings Monday nights- on a two-out, two-strike, bottom-of-the-ninth-inning RBI base hit by pinch hitter Paul Keck- the Panners first baseman, Joe Persichina, tried to put a finger on a reason why the Goldpanners, who have won only three games on the road this season, are nearly unbeatable at home.

"There may not be any reason," said Persichina, following the Panners 8-7 win over the league-leading Peninsula Oilers. "But it could be the crowd backing us up. We've got some good hecklers. You've got to give credit to the people in the stands. They want to win as much as we do."

Gero von Dehn, Pannervision's play-by-play man, said that when he spoke to a few of the Peninsula players at the concession stand before Monday night's game, they told him that they hate playing at Growden Park (where the Oilers lost 7-1 to the Panners in the Midnight Sun game, in the only meeting between the two teams this season at Growden prior to Monday's contest) because of the Panners wildly partisan, loud, and outspoken crowd.

Monday night's attendance was much smaller than the 3500-plus fans who watched the Midnight Sun Game, but that didn't save the Oilers pitchers and on-deck hitters from a relentless barrage of ribbing from a very vocal group of fans sitting in the seats on the first base line; while cheers of support and confidence for the Goldpanners echoed from every corner of the stadium throughout the game, reaching a peak in that tension-filled ninth inning, as the sky turned dark and the Goldpanners gave up a three-run lead in the top-half of the inning- including the tying run on a wild pitch- but never gave up.

Monday night's game was a roller coaster of a contest, marked by wild shifts of momentum, plenty of hits- especially by the home team- and four costly errors- all committed by the Panners; but one of the big highlight for the home team was the stellar start by the Panner's most recent roster addition Scott Sarver, from the College World Series champion Cal State-Fullerton Titans, who pitched seven innings and gave up four runs (but only two earned) on five hits, while he issued just a singe walk, and faced the minimum, just three batters, in the second through the fifth innings.

"I struggled in my first two outings here," said Sarver after Monday's game. "I had a break, two or three weeks off (after the College World Series) and I was a little rusty, and getting used to a different system and different catchers. But tonight, that's the way I pitch. I got in a groove and I had command of all three pitches. I was mixing my pitches more effectively, and my changeup was big for me tonight. I was throwing it for strikes and getting guys to chase it out of the zone and the pitches they did hit were good pitches. I was throwing my curveball for strikes and my fastball for strikes; just trying to throw strikes, mix pitches and give us a chance to win."


The Panners bats came back to life, and after suffering through a first half-inning plagued by mishap, in which the Panners gave up a run to the Oilers on three errors, second baseman Cameron Blair gave his teammates a much-needed surge of confidence in the home-half of the inning to tie the game with his league-leading 11th home run of the season.

In the third inning the Panners exploded for six runs, on five base hits and two doubles, and the team ended the night (and their hitting drought) with 16 hits, on multiple-hit performances by Johnny Coit, Allen Balmer, Mike Lissman, Jordan Struble and Persichina- and one huge one-out hit, a broken-bat single in the bottom of the ninth by shortstop Arman Sidhu (who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning), and scored when Keck put his pinch hit bloop single down right in front of a racing Robert Perry, the Oilers center fielder.

"A bloop hit, a balk, a wild pitch, a passed ball, it's just baseball. That's how baseball is," said Persichina, commenting on the all the elements contributing to last night's dramatic ninth inning.

Ryan Shaver came on to relieve Sarver in the eighth inning with one man on base, after Sarver had walked the leadoff man, and Shaver retired three straight Oiler batters and took the mound in the ninth inning with the Panners leading 7-4. Shaver gave up two straight base hits to Andy Dahl and Rocky Laguna, and then balked, advancing both baserunners, before getting the first out of the inning on a strikeout of Patrick Rooney. The next batter Shaver faced, Matt Eichel, doubled in Dahl and Laguna, and advanced to third when Shaver got Robert Perry to ground out to third.

One out away from a win, Panners coach Ed Cheff went to the bullpen again, calling on Kenny Maiques for the one-out save, but Maiques' very first pitch was a wild one, and Eichel scored and tied the game. Then Maiques struck out Nick Kliebert and it was last chance time for the Goldpanners.

"When stuff like that happens you have to stay on the same level emotionally and stay ready," said Persichina, who singled right after Sidhu in the ninth, explaining how the Panners responded to the sudden loss of their three-run lead. "One inning you?re up and the next inning you're down. It's an emotional game and a very mental game. You have to keep going and striving to win. The guys in the dugout kept a positive attitude and when you get up there you have to come out expecting to win."