The visiting Suns baseball team drove from Santa Monica to play a double-header against San Quentin’s Giants and A’s. They defeated the Giants, 4-3, and lost to the A’s, 9-7.
“We are big fans of the program. This is my seventh year coming up,” said Bob Sharka, coach and organizer of the Suns.
“He is the biggest supporter in the history of the program,” said San Quentin baseball sponsor Elliot Smith.
“Bob is awesome. He always donates a bunch of equipment to us,” said John “Yah-ya” Parratt.
The Suns outhit the A’s, 10-9, but the A’s scored more runs using small ball – stealing bases and advancing runners with bunts.
“Their fundamentals are very good,” said Suns second baseman Sanjay Nagarkar. He hit two doubles but was stranded both times.
“We’re leaving a lot of men on base,” said Vin Disanti, the Suns’ right fielder.
The Suns chased the A’s for most of the game. In the bottom of the fifth, the A’s led 4-1 and improved to 6-1 when Ruben Harper hit a grounder to midfield that Nagarkar snagged, but fell when he tried to throw. That allowed Isaiah Thompson-Bonilla to take home and Cleo Cloman to advance. Cloman stole home on the next play.
Anthony Denard followed with a double, then stole third; however, the inning ended when John Windham struck out.
After Thompson-Bonilla pitched five innings without his broken glasses, Cloman replaced him on the mound.
“His glasses snapped in warm-up. He pitched without them,” said A’s Coach Kevin O’Connell.
The Suns came back in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded, Sun Will “Bubba” Brown banged a grand slam over the razor-wire fence that gave his team a 7-6 lead.
Then Brown replaced his brother Andy at the mound and things went all bad. “We took the lead, then I came in to pitch and gave up three runs,” admitted Brown.
Denard put the A’s back on top with a double that brought in Harper, Bilal Coleman and Robert Townes, making the score 9-7. The Suns failed to score in the last inning, giving Thompson-Bonilla the win and Cloman the save.
“It felt good to actually help my team in that situation because all the other times I didn’t come through for them,” said Denard.
The second game came down to pitching and involved a controversial call at the plate. Each pitcher only gave up three hits. “It was a straight-out pitcher’s duel,” said Giants first baseman Michael Panella.
In the seventh inning, Giants catcher Mike Tyler tried to keep Sun Dan Greenberg from advancing by throwing toward second, but the ball ended up in the outfield. Greenberg stole second, rounded third and headed for home. Tyler made the catch, blocked home plate and made the tag. Greenberg was called out. However, the umpires huddled and decided he was safe because it’s illegal to block home plate. The run was counted, giving the Suns a 4-2 lead.
“It was a fouled-up call,” said inmate Trevor Bird.
The Suns were short two players for the second game, so they picked up S.Q. Giants sponsor/coach Mike Deeble and Greenberg from the Oaks squad.
“It’s awesome playing against my team. I hope they lose, because I want to win. I’m a competitor. The better the competition, the better they will get,” said Deeble.
Giant Jeff “Dewey” Dumont held the Suns scoreless until the fifth inning, when his arm got away from him. He walked two Suns in a row, then hit one with a pitch, loading the bases. Then he hit Deeble with a pitch, pushing in a run. Ray Mars knocked the ball to the infield for a fielder’s choice throw out at second, but allowed a run to come in, giving the Suns a 3-1 lead. Dumont got out of the inning when Sun Zach Mann grounded to third and was thrown out at first.
The Giants coaches left Dumont on the mound, and he settled down. He went on to strike out six batters. The Suns scored their fourth run on an error and the disputed home-plate call.
The Giants mounted a comeback try in the top of the eighth. It started with a single by Dumont, who stole second. Then Panella belted a 4-3 ground out to advance Dumont to third. Another hit by Tyler brought in Dumont, making the score 4-3. No other Giants scored, leaving the Suns on top of the June 21 game.
