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Steelheads Inch Closer with 11-5 Win over Bears

The Seattle Steelheads aren’t finished yet. Despite a poor start from Toshio Nimiya, Seattle’s bats led the way in an 11-5 pounding of the Denver Bears, and the club is now just two games behind El Paso, tied with Los Angeles, as the D1 West heads into an exciting final two weeks.

Both pitchers kept zeroes on the board for the first three innings, though Denver lefty Chris Crovo had to work around baserunners, including a first and third jam in the second. Despite that, it was Denver that struck first, as promising power hitter Ray Ramirez doubled with two outs in the fourth, scoring on CF Mario Nunez’s two run shot off a first pitch Nimiya fastball.

Seattle hit back hard in the fifth, courtesy of rookie catcher Roger Alvarado, burnishing his Rookie of the Year case. A one out walk to Justin Ballard set up a rally, as Josh Dowling doubled him home. Dowling moved to third when Matt Galante grounded out, but Mike Hood drew a walk to keep the inning alive and send Alvarado to the plate. Alvarado, who hits from the left side but has actually performed better against lefthanded pitcher this season, squared up a Crovo slider and demolished it, sending it 430 feet to dead center field for his 30th homer of the season, giving Seattle a 4-2 lead.

The Bears came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Rich Parsons, Andy Held, Pete Samms, and Clemens Young all took turns collecting base hits, scoring two. Samms and Young took second and third after a passed ball, and Ray Ramirez turned on one, a blistering line drive into left. But it was hit right at Josh Dowling, who brought it in to end the inning and prevent further damage.

Now it was Seattle’s turn. Jon Slike walked and took second on a Josh Stennett bunt, only to have first base filled again when Crovo issued a free pass - his fifth - to Ray Snead. Having seen enough, Bears skipper Andy Hernandez lifted him in favor of Jim Brockman.

But Brockman was hittable, and Seattle hit him, with singles on consecutive pitches by Ballard and Dowling, scoring Slike. Galante struck out, but with Mike Hood at the plate a Brockman sinker hit the dirt and got past Dave Judge, scoring Snead. Hood struck out to end it, but Seattle was now up 6-4 in a see-saw contest.

Nimiya once again failed to convert a lead into an easy inning, though. Nunez singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and after a quick popup out by Judge, Nunez took second on a wild pitch, then scored when Rodrigo Sanchez doubled down the LF line. That was it for Nimiya, as Colin Izak came in and settled things down. Sanchez got to third on a roller to first that marked the inning’s second out, and was stranded there when, after a walk to Mike de Jesus, Andy Held flew out harmlessly to center.

That would prove to be it for Denver, but Seattle kept going. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Silke hit a solo homer to left off Brockman, who then walked Stennett. Ray Snead doubled to score the Steelheads’ eighth run.

After Izak gave Seattle its first 1-2-3 inning since the second, Seattle got right back in it, scoring their ninth run on a Dowling double and Galante base hit. Brockman exited in favor of Benvenuto Caratti, and the Venezuelan hurler managed to get fly ball outs of the dangerous duo of Hood and Alvarado. But Frank Gonzales hit his fly ball harder than they had, over the left center wall for a 2 run bomb that completed the game’s scoring at 11-5.

The rest of the game passed without a baserunner, as Seattle gained a game on El Paso and kept pace with Los Angeles, winners in their contest against Chicago.