Bears stun Gold Sox in extra innings

Saturday night’s rivalry showdown between the Marysville Gold Sox and Yuba City Bears was scheduled to have fireworks following the game, but little did the fans know there would be some late-game fireworks on the field before things were said and done.

Trailing 4-2 and down to their last strike, Josh Winkler came through with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth to send the game to extra innings and Kalen Crisosto delivered a game-winning RBI triple in the 10th to propel the Bears to a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Gold Sox at Colusa Casino Stadium in Marysville.

It was the second straight win over the Gold Sox for the Bears, who now lead the season series 3-1.

Yuba City wasted little time opening the scoring as Creed Smith led off the game with a single and was followed immediately by an RBI double by Crisosto in the top of the first.

That 1-0 lead didn’t last very long, however, as the Gold Sox batted around and scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a lead they would not relinquish until the ninth.

Brock Ephan doubled and was followed by an run-scoring single by Grant Horwitz, and Darrel Doll and Jaisten Cabatbat both drew walks with the bases loaded in the inning before Danny Chavez came on in relief to get the final out to leave the bags full.

Yuba City cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth when Smith smacked a double and scored on T.J. Dove’s RBI single, and the score stayed that way until the seventh when Marysville got the run back on an RBI groundout by Tyler Yamaguchi.

Sam Leach came on in the ninth to try to close out the game, but walked Logan Wurm and Trey Yukumoto before getting a groundout. Leach then got ahead 1-2 on Winkler, who hit a sharp single to tie the game up.

It marked the third time this season the Gold Sox have blown a lead in the ninth inning.

Dace Asher led off the top of the 10th inning with a walk, and Crisosto drove him home with a stand-up triple to deep center to give the Bears a 5-4 lead.

Andrew Fuentes walked a batter and hit another in the bottom of the 10th, but got Ephan to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to close out the game and earn the win with three hitless innings of relief.

The Bears (4-7) and Gold Sox (2-8) will conclude their threegame series today at 6:05 p.m.