The Long Beach Coast will race the Modesto Roadsters to two wins in a best-of-three series in the first round of the Pioneer Baseball League (PBL) playoffs.
Due to their strong first-half finish, the Coast will host the entire opening round at Blair Field Thursday, Friday and Saturday (if necessary).
Long Beach concluded its regular season against Modesto in a grueling six-game series that included three knockout-round tiebreakers.
The Coast missed out on the PBL’s top record by the slimmest of margins. In the regular season finale, the Coast suffered a one-run loss that dropped their record to 67-29, 0.5 games behind the Billings Mustangs, who finished 67-28. If the Mustangs and Coast meet in the PBL Championship Series, home-field advantage will be given to the Mustangs due to overall record.
The PBL Championship Series will also be best-of-three, starting on Tuesday, Sept. 15, but both teams will receive a chance to host. The team with home-field advantage in the Championship Series will host Game 2 on Friday, Sept. 18. If Game 3 is necessary, it will be played in the same ballpark on the next day.
On Thursday, the real test begins for the Coast, a team that has impressed in its inaugural season, but has also benefited from an easy schedule. Fifty-six of the Coast’s 96 games have been against teams that finished under .500.
One of the PBL’s scheduling quirks is that not all teams have the opportunity to face each other. The other side of the bracket is foreign territory to the Coast. They have not yet faced Billings and went 2-4 against the Mustangs’ first-round opponent, the Missoula PaddleHeads, in a mid-August series. However, the lack of games against those two teams isn’t fazing Coast manager Troy Percival.
“I got a pretty good read on what my team is and we’re gonna go out and play our game, regardless of what anybody else does,” Percival said. “I’ve watched video. I know what they have, but when it comes down to it, we’re going to play to our strength regardless of what’s on the other side of the field.”
The Coast has taken care of business against first-round opponent Modesto, winning 16 of their 21 matchups. When the Roadsters did defeat Long Beach, it never came easy, eking out wins of two runs or fewer in all five of their victories.
Long Beach Coast battle despite injuries throughout the season
Key players have missed time, but the Coast have sailed past those obstacles. Opening Day catcher Thomas McCaffrey lit up opposing pitchers with seven home runs in 15 games, but he hasn’t played since June 6 due to a thumb injury.
Starting pitcher Gary Grosjean missed over a month after his Opening Day start and made just three more starts. Brett Wozniak, another high-end starter, was inactive from late June through mid-August. Even Percival’s son, Cole, was placed on the Injured List last Thursday and will miss the rest of the season to an injury involving his throwing arm.
Dominant relief pitcher Julien Hernandez was not injured, but signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Single-A affiliate in late June.
“Every team has injuries, I think we’ve had more at the top end of our roster, and that’s my job, to make sure that I have people in the wings,” Percival said. “So it is what it is, don’t cry about it. You just go out there and play as hard as you can, and at the end of the day, you hope you’re on the victorious side.”
The top of the batting order has been a deadly force for the Coast. Most variations of the lineup include Eddy Pelc, Emilio Corona and Cuba Bess at the top. Pelc led the league with a .528 on-base percentage, boosted by his 27% walk rate, which is twice as great as the rest of the league’s 13.2% walk rate.
Possessing both great power and speed, Corona typically follows Pelc in the order. In addition to leading the league with 50 stolen bases, Corona has hit 27 home runs. No other player in the league’s history has ever recorded a 25/50 season.
Behind those two is the elder statesman of the club in Bess. The 28-year-old first baseman has taken full advantage of the hitters ahead of him getting in scoring position, as shown by his 27 home runs and team-high 115 RBI.
Outfielder Cooper Vest had the pleasure of batting behind the trio in the middle of the order and said it is “super fun” to hit behind them due to their propensity to reach scoring position.
“There’s a lot of traffic going on all the time when me and Cube get up to the plate, so it simplifies the game a little bit to know, ‘All I got to do is score that runner,’” Vest said. “You’re not chasing hits, you’re not chasing your own personal numbers. What’ll really help is that RBI clip and scoring those baserunners as often as possible.”
Hemmerling and Bautista projected to start first two playoff games
Likely starting on the mound for the Coast are pitchers Nathan Hemmerling and Nick Bautista. Hemmerling has arguably the best resume of any starting pitcher in the postseason. His 100 strikeouts, 1.33 walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) and 3.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio are all top five in the PBL.
Hemmerling’s last start against Modesto was a gem – 6.1 shutout innings pitched, three hits, seven strikeouts and zero walks.
Hemmerling has dazzled against Modesto this year, keeping the Roadsters in park. In 17 ⅔ innings pitched, he has a 3.06 earned run average (ERA), a 1.13 WHIP and 18 strikeouts.
“Emotions are pretty similar as they have been all season,” he said. “Just going out there, focus on one thing at a time. Trust the defense, trust the catcher, whether that’d be Papp [Johnny Pappas] or [David] Whittle, and just go out there with the first-pitch strike mentality.”
Bautista, a 2022 MLB draft pick, did not show up in the top five of any major statistical leaderboards, but he has been a quality starter. His ERA, WHIP, strikeout rate and walk rate are all considerably better than the league average.
He has also shown the Roadsters a red light. In 19 ⅔ innings pitched, he has a 3.66 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 20 strikeouts.
Game 1 of the Division Series playoffs is Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Game 2 will take place Friday at 6:35 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, will take place at the same time Saturday. All round one games will be at Blair Field (4700 Deukmejian Drive).
The games will also be livestreamed on the Coast’s YouTube channel.
Playoff tickets for the Coast can be purchased here.
