Gold Sox, Bears go late

They began Friday mired in fifth and sixth place, respectively, in a six-team league. And they’re playing more to stay sharp and improve for their college teams and professional futures than to produce summer wins.

Still, as the members of the members of the Marysville Gold Sox and Yuba City Bears faced each other in their penultimate meeting of the season at Colusa Casino Stadium, the possibility of an even split of their 12 season games hung in the air. And once Friday’s game extended to extra innings, tempers on the Yuba City side of the field flared to the point of causing ejections.

At the time the Appeal-Democrat went to print, the host Gold Sox and Bears were still tied 3-3 after 13 innings. Marysville entered the night looking for its seventh win in 11 games against Yuba City, which would clinch the season series. A Yuba City win would mean the Bears would have a chance to knot the series 6-6 when they host the Gold Sox today at 7:05 p.m. in Marysville.

The Gold Sox took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Devin Pettengill singled with one out, advanced to second on a ground out, then scored on a double by Brock Ephan.

But that lead lasted only for as long as it took the Bears to complete their next at-bat. Yuba City sent seven batters to the plate and scored three times in the top of the second. A ground out to shortstop by Creed Smith brought home Malcom Boehm with the first run, Codey Kitagawa came home on a Sam Leach wild pitch for the second and Shaq Robinson’s RBI single plated Smith for the third.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Ephan led off the inning with a home run to left center off Yuba City pitcher Ben Purcell, trimming the Bears’ lead to 3-2. Two innings later, Marysville tied matters thanks to a balk by Yuba City relief pitcher Jacob Olofson, scoring Jason Dicochea from third.