The Long Beach Coast front office made a splash ahead of their inaugural season, constructing a roster good enough to claim the Pioneer Baseball League’s (PBL) first half pennant.
And if Saturday night’s champagne-filled celebrations at Blair Field are any proof, the Coast have continued to make a splash and then some.
The Coast’s 6-3 win over the Modesto Roadsters in Game 3 advanced them to the PBL Championship Series, marking the third time an expansion team has reached the finals in the MLB Partner League era.
After scoring only one run in Friday’s Game 2, the Coast’s clutch hitting returned for a winner-takes-all match, batting 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
“You grind through 96 regular season games and you don’t want to go home after three more so it’s special,” third baseman Benjamin Rosengard said. “It’s something you work towards the whole year … They came out yesterday, credit to them, but we’re able to come out today and do our job and play the baseball we know how to play so it’s definitely rewarding.”
Rosengard, winner of last year’s PBL batting title with the Idaho Falls Chukars, amassed six hits, two walks and three RBIs in 13 plate appearances this series. The hits included two doubles and a drag bunt, displaying his mastery of contact hitting.
Changes to Saturday’s starting lineup included the additions of catcher David Whittle and designated hitter Trevor Rogers. They replaced Johnny Pappas and Spence Coffman, who combined to hit 1-for-13 and struck out five times in the first two games of the series. The combination of Whittle and Rogers accumulated three hits and one walk Saturday.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking coming into a playoff game, seeing that it was my first-ever playoff game, but I just kind of beared down and told myself my job is to be back there, make sure the pitchers are doing what they’re supposed to do and do as much as I can on offense to get runs in,” Whittle said.
Whittle experienced his fair share of losses in the past two years, going 31-73 as a member of the UC Riverside Highlanders. Going into his first playoff start, Whittle said his goals were to take care of the pitching staff and provide as much as he could on offense.
Coast manager Troy Percival gave the start to Gary Grosjean, but five total pitchers entered the contest to complete the bullpen game. The pitching staff hunkered down, allowing three hits in 16 at-bats with runners on en route to three earned runs allowed.
The Coast’s defense was also crucial, making run-saving plays throughout the series. Cuba Bess displayed a gold-glove effort in the fifth inning by fielding a hard-hit ground ball at first base, rifling a throw to second to get the lead runner and racing back to first base to complete the double play before hitter Max Handron could reach the bag.
“The pitchers are out there and they need to know that we have their back,” Rosengard said. “It’s part of playing good baseball. We talk about it all the time and try to make the routine plays routine and you know, anything on top is icing on the cake.”
In the second inning, the Coast offense finally snapped a seven-inning scoreless streak that started Friday, when second baseman Jacob Jablonski hit a low line drive to right field, easily scoring Emilio Corona from second base and taking a 1-0 lead.
The RBI single was Jablonski’s first hit of the series in eight attempts. The Coast continued to make Roadsters starter Kelvan Pilot sweat, working a walk, a single on a 3-1 pitch and a bases-loaded walk. With the bases still loaded and a two-run game providing one of the highest-leverage spots of the series for both teams, Pilot struck out Rosengard to end the inning.
Seeing more miscues with Long Beach’s pitch location in the third inning, the Roadsters took advantage this time, drawing two walks, executing a successful sacrifice bunt and hitting two singles that tied the game at 2-2. Grosjean, who left the contest after the first two hitters, was charged with both earned runs. Jack Martin replaced him and delivered four shutout innings out of the bullpen.
“Credit to our bullpen and our pitching all day,” Rosengard said. “Credit to them, they kept us in it the whole time.”
Rosengard’s next at-bat arrived in the fourth inning, again with the bases loaded. The traffic on base made way for left-hander Johan Castillo to enter the game. Despite the unfavorable lefty against lefty matchup, Rosengard smacked the ball to right field for a two-run base hit and a 4-2 lead.
“It’s fun to play with those stakes,” Rosengard said. “Do whatever you need to do in a situation.”
Leading off the bottom of the fifth, Vest hit his second home run of the series to extend the lead to 5-2. There was more to come. Rogers hit a high fly ball to the right side of the infield but it was dropped by the shortstop, gifting a baserunner to the Coast. The Coast landed another base hit in right field when Whittle’s single drove in Rogers for a four-run lead.
“My biggest thing is just going up there and just looking to put the ball in play and try to manufacture a run,” Whittle said. “I wasn’t trying to do too much, just trying to see the ball up, and I got my pitch and put the swing on that I could, and got the run in.”
Reliever Jake Dixon came in for Martin, who surrendered a pair of singles to open the seventh. Martin departed the mound to applause, receiving praise for maintaining the Coast lead throughout his four innings
Dixon soon found himself in a jam with the bases loaded and one out. Roadsters shortstop Jacob Lojewski’s slow groundout to Dixon bought enough time for the runner from third to score. With runners in scoring position and the tying run at the plate, Dixon halted Handron’s offense with a lineout to right field.
Modesto did not generate another serious opportunity in the final two innings to tilt the game in their favor. When the stadium speakers played Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” before the ninth inning, loyal fans recognized the sound of PBL saves leader Zach Voelker’s walkup music and rightly anticipated him shutting the door on the game and the series.
Voelker’s 11th pitch of the night produced a swing and a miss, sending the Coast to the Championship Series.
After a fairly muted celebration of high-fives as the dugout greeted the defense, champagne and beers made their Long Beach Coast debut. Percival received a Gatorade bath not once, but twice, as the team relished in advancing to the final round of the playoffs in their inaugural season.
Game 1 of the Championship Series will begin Sept. 15 at Blair Field. The opening contest will be Long Beach’s last home game of 2026, as the rest of the three-game series will be held in Billings, Montana.
Joshua Min
Reporter
Joshua Min is a senior journalism student at California State University, Long Beach and an assistant copy editor for the school’s newspaper, the Long Beach Current. In his first month with the Current, Joshua’s column “Future U ignores today’s problems, leaving ‘U’ out of the picture” won third place for Best Opinion Piece at the California College Media Association Awards. Aside from his copy editing duties, Joshua loves to cover sports and fill in to report on games whenever necessary.
