In a marathon effort to stretch their winning streak to seven games, the Long Beach Coast completed their sweep of the Oakland Ballers 12-9 in the longest game in franchise history.
Surprisingly, the game did not go past nine innings, but there was no shortage of action and drama, with five ties and three lead changes during the three-hour and 55-minute contest at Blair Field. Both pitching staffs worked long shifts and relied on the bullpen as the Ballers (22-29) and the Coast (40-11) each sent six men to the mound for 391 combined pitches.
First baseman Cuba Bess’ bat was good for breaking ties when the team needed it, as the Coast took the lead after each of his two home runs Thursday.
“We just had to keep pulling for each other,” Bess said. “When Oakland scored, we had to come back and score. We know our offense is relentless so we had to keep going punch-for-punch.”
Bess also reached first on an error, scored three runs and collected four RBIs in the win against Oakland.
Thursday’s promotion was “It’s 562 Somewhere,” which was inspired by Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.” Thus, fans and staff members were decked out in their liveliest Hawaiian shirts. The game’s length led many fans to leave before the game’s conclusion. Perhaps with the bar closed after the seventh-inning stretch, the “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” mindset stuck with them.
The Ballers scored the first run of the game after second baseman Brendan O’Sullivan hit the team’s third consecutive single to begin the second inning. O’Sullivan’s grounder immediately bounced high into the air off the infield grass, providing enough hang time for him to beat the eventual throw to first.
Starting pitcher Garrett Van Deventer managed to force the next two batters to fly out, but walked leadoff hitter Tremayne Cobb to load the bases. Next at the dish, center fielder Esai Santos sailed the 2-1 pitch straight to Van Deventer, with the ball ricocheting off his glove and rolling toward second base. In a mad dash, second baseman Patrick Roche picked up the loose ball by the bag with his glove and tagged the base while sliding in a three-person collision.
Entering Thursday’s game, Van Deventer had won his previous four starts, totaling 27 innings pitched in a show of durability. However, on Thursday night he blew through 92 pitches in a four-inning outing that included nine hits allowed, two walks, four earned runs and three strikeouts.
The Coast tied up the game in the third inning when left fielder Eddy Pelc launched a solo blast to the right field bullpen. Two batters later, Bess smashed his own pitch over the left field fence, creating a two-run lead.
“It does set a tone because once one of us gets going, we’re all going to go,” Bess said about Pelc’s home run. “We click very well together. We mesh very well so once one of us finds a barrel, we know the rest is coming.”
Later in the third, the Coast had a chance to blow the game open with the bases loaded during third baseman Dylan Lina’s at-bat, but he could only muster a sacrifice fly, extending the Coast’s lead to 4-1. Lina is a hometown favorite who recently wrapped up his senior season for the Long Beach State Dirtbags but has struggled recently, going hitless in his last 18 at-bats.
Ballers starting pitcher Reed Butz made his 2026 Pioneer Baseball League (PBL) debut for Oakland after appearing for the Sioux City Explorers in the American Association this year. Butz started strong with two scoreless frames, but allowed four earned runs, five hits and five walks on 92 pitches in three innings. The Coast drew 12 total walks on offense.
“We’re just going up there and working counts,” Bess said. “We try to be picky, so if it’s not something in our zone early in the count, we want to work it down.”
The Ballers threatened in the fourth inning with a double steal during designated hitter Nick Leehey’s plate appearance, but their momentum was derailed after Cobb sustained a lower-body injury while successfully swiping third. Cobb knew something wasn’t right immediately as he wore the frustration on his face and was substituted from the contest.
After Cobb’s exit, shortstop Anthony Mata seemed to be bothered by an injury and was also taken out of the game. That substitution caused a defensive shuffle as Roche took his spot at short, Jacob Jablonski took second and Cooper Vest entered the game in right field.
When play finally resumed, Leehey cashed in on the double steal with a home run to left center field, tying the game 4-4.
Long Beach’s plate discipline drove in two runs in the fourth inning as center fielder Emilio Corona drew a walk with the bases loaded to break the tie. The next batter, Vest, worked a full count and was hit in the ankle area, knocking him down to the ground while bringing in a run.
In the fifth inning, Bess rocked the first pitch of his at-bat well past the right field jumbotron for a two-run homer and a 9-7 Coast lead. The crack of the bat was enough to let the outfielders know they didn’t even need to track the ball as it flew into orbit.
“We face these guys a lot, so we see a lot of their pitching and I’ve seen a lot of sliders from [pitcher Jake Villar],” Bess said. “So I was just looking for something up, he left it up and I got my swing off.”
After a Coast scoring drought in the sixth and seventh innings, they found home plate in the eighth when Vest hit a ball to deep right field, requiring an acrobatic, diving catch by the right fielder.
Pinch runner Jaylen Edmonds, who entered the ballgame for Matthew Bardowell, tagged up from second base and raced all the way home, breaking the 9-9 deadlock. The throw home was timely but sailed past the catcher, which allowed Corona to tag up from first to second.
Pelc later batted in Corona on a hard-hit ball struck to left field for a two-run single and a 12-9 lead.
Closer Zach Voelker came in the ninth and retired the side on two strikeouts for his league-leading 11th save of the season.
The Coast are tied with four other teams for first place to start the second half of the season at 3-0. Although they already solidified home-field advantage in the PBL playoffs by being in first place during the first half of the season, Long Beach still intends to keep its foot on the gas, according to Bess.
“We still want to come out and play good baseball,” Bess said. “We still want to come out and hit the baseball hard, throw strikes, play good defense and just play clean ball. Just because we clinched the first half doesn’t mean that the season’s over. We still want to keep building step by step until we get to the postseason.”
