Packers pull out a late win at home

Fans are getting used to seeing the Prune Packers walk away with big wins, racking up points to make the result known well before the final innings. Some followers however have a hankering for a closer game, a contest between more evenly matched teams for which the outcome is uncertain.

Last Sunday afternoon at Rec Park both fans were treated to the kind of game they like: A tight one that for a while looked like it might be the third loss of the year for the galloping Prune Packers, but in the end proved to be just another number in the win column for the Pack.

Returning to Healdsburg for the second time this year were the West Coast Kings, who lost two straight in their first visit, on June 20 and 21. The Kings are not burning up the league by any means—they had zero league wins against five losses when they returned on July 29, having just dropped two in a row to the Lincoln Potters (currently tied for second place with the Humboldt Crabs).

But the last-place Kings gave the first-place Pack a run for their money. Healdsburg’s starting pitcher Caleb Debben gave up a walk to the first batter, who eventually came home on a single for the first run. In the second inning Debben got two quick outs, but then two walks and two singles produced two more runs and a 3-0 lead for the visitors.

Jacob French got the first run for the Packers in the bottom of the second, following a double, a pitcher’s error and an RBI single from JC Osorio-Agard to make it 3-1. The visiting Kings scored three more runs to take an unexpected 6-1 lead into the seventh inning, and while the Packers loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth they could not bring a runner across.

Maybe it was intern CC Brenner’s acapella “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch, but something woke up the Prune Packers. Jace Souza liked the first pitch he got so much he sent it over the right-field fence. The next batter, Alex Leopard, waited for a full-count pitch to do the same, and suddenly the grandstands began buzzing with excitement.

The Packers scored three more in the seventh, including a third home run from Osorio-Agard, to tie the game. The Kings threatened in the top of the eighth but couldn’t make it pay off, and the hard-hitting Pack scored yet another home run in the bottom of the inning, a two-run blast from Logan Sutter, to take the lead at 8-6, the final score.

In the end everyone got what they wanted: a close game, five home runs (the Kings had one) and another Prune Packer win.

The victory closed out a mixed week for Healdsburg, which included their second loss of the year on June 25 (on the second Wednesday in a row), this time to the Medford Rogues at their Oregon field by a close 3-2 score.

At the midpoint of the season, the 8-2 Packers have a two-game lead over the 4-2 Rogues, with both the Lincoln Potters and Humboldt Crabs tied for third at 5-4. (See Standings, below)

This week the Packers take a break from conference play with four games against non-league opponents, including a Fourth of July game against Petaluma’s AE Express, 5pm at Rec Park. League play picks up again over the weekend with rematches against the West Coast Kings, both Saturday and Sunday at 6pm, Rec Park.

PEL Mid-point Standings, July 1