Roswell Invaders Pound Thurston County Senators 11-1 Behind Four Home Runs

Aug 16 2016 12:00AM - Roswell Invaders Pound Thurston County Senators 11-1 Behind Four Home Runs

The Roswell Invaders continued their impressive run at the 2016 World Baseball Challenge with an 11-1 victory over the Thurston County Senators on August 16, 2016 at Citizen Field in Prince George, British Columbia.

Roswell collected 15 hits and blasted four home runs while TJ Pruneda dominated on the mound, holding Thurston County to five hits and no earned runs over eight innings.

The Invaders wasted little time getting on the scoreboard.

Morgan Blatnik opened the bottom of the first inning with a double and eventually scored when Joey Miller drew a bases-loaded walk, giving Roswell a 1-0 lead.

After a scoreless second inning, the Invaders began to pull away in the third.

Joey Miller started the scoring by launching a solo home run to give Roswell a 2-0 advantage.

Bobby Webb followed with a single and Kaohu Gaspar also singled, putting runners on the corners. Jim Smith then singled home Webb before Brett Balkan's sacrifice fly scored Gaspar.

Roswell finished the third inning with three runs and carried a 4-0 lead into the fourth.

Thurston County scored its only run in the top of the fourth.

Omar Maldanado singled and eventually scored following a pair of Roswell errors. The run was unearned against Pruneda and cut the Invaders' lead to 4-1.

Roswell immediately answered with another three- run inning.

Cody Coffman singled with one out before Bobby Webb delivered one of the biggest swings of the game, blasting a two-run home run that scored Coffman and pushed the lead to 6-1.

Kaohu Gaspar followed with a double and Jim Smith singled before Gavin Lavallee drove Gaspar home with a single, giving Roswell a 7-1 advantage.

The Invaders added another run in the fifth without recording a hit.

Morgan Blatnik and Evan Karre opened the inning with walks. Blatnik eventually scored on a Joey Miller sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 8-1.

Pruneda continued shutting down Thurston County.

After allowing two hits in the fifth inning, he worked a perfect sixth and then erased a seventh- inning single with a double play.

Roswell added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, and once again Bobby Webb supplied the power.

Joey Miller drew a two-out walk before Webb launched his second home run of the game, scoring Miller and giving Roswell a commanding 10-1 lead.

Webb finished an outstanding afternoon 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, three runs scored and a walk.

Thurston County was held scoreless again in the top of the eighth, and Roswell finished the game in the bottom half.

After two quick outs, Morgan Blatnik stepped to the plate and blasted a solo home run, producing the final run in Roswell's 11-1 victory.

Blatnik finished 3-for-5 with a double, home run, three runs scored and an RBI while also drawing a walk.

Joey Miller also homered and finished with two runs scored and an RBI. Kaohu Gaspar went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Jim Smith collected two hits.

Roswell's offensive star was Webb.

He reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 4-for-4 with two home runs and a walk. Webb drove in four runs and scored three times as the middle of the Roswell order overwhelmed Thurston County pitching.

The Invaders finished with four home runs in the game - one each from Blatnik and Miller and two from Webb.

While the offense produced 11 runs, Pruneda controlled the game from the mound.

The Roswell right-hander pitched all eight innings, allowing only five hits and one unearned run. He did not walk a batter and struck out four.

Pruneda threw 83 pitches, including 62 strikes, and was credited with the victory.

Thurston County starter Eli Fulton took the loss after allowing seven runs on 13 hits in four innings. Fulton walked one and struck out one.

Keone McKee followed with three innings of relief and allowed three runs on one hit while walking six. Tanner Angel pitched the final two-thirds of an inning and surrendered Blatnik's game-ending home run.

Thurston County managed only five hits against Pruneda. Omar Maldanado, Alex Bryner, Nick Bowman, Bryan Lounsbury and Keone McKee each recorded one hit.

Roswell's combination of power and pitching proved overwhelming.

The Invaders scored in the first, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth innings, finishing with 11 runs on 15 hits.

Final Score:
Thurston County Senators 1
Roswell Invaders 11

Line Score:
Thurston County Senators - 1 run, 5 hits, 0 errors
Roswell Invaders - 11 runs, 15 hits, 3 errors

Winning Pitcher: TJ Pruneda
Losing Pitcher: Eli Fulton

Roswell Offensive Leaders:
Bobby Webb - 4-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB
Morgan Blatnik - 3-for-5, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB
Kaohu Gaspar - 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, BB
Jim Smith - 2-for-4, R, BB
Joey Miller - 1-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
Cody Coffman - 1-for-5, R
Gavin Lavallee - 1-for-4, HBP

Roswell Home Runs:
Joey Miller - solo home run, 3rd inning
Bobby Webb - two-run home run, 4th inning
Bobby Webb - two-run home run, 7th inning
Morgan Blatnik - solo home run, 8th inning

Roswell Pitching:
TJ Pruneda - 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, Win

Game Information:
August 16, 2016
Citizen Field
Start Time: 4:00 PM
Game Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes