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By Karen Boehler
Pecos League writer
HOUSTON — The final game of the Pecos Spring League — a 1 p.m. matchup between Galveston and Mesa at Coastal Baseball Park — was a pitcher’s duel for five innings befiore the Sea Lions broke it open in the sixth, getting a 7-0 victory.
“It was a pitching duel between Brian Hicks and (Nikolai Alfimov), and Brian went five,” said Galveston manager J.D. Droddy. “Pitched very well. And I brought (Scott) Elitzky in, and he continued to pitch well but the other guy didn’t.”
Hicks only allowed three hits through five full innings, while Alfimov only allowed one run on three hits through the same time.
That run came in the top of the first when Frank Florio double, stole third and came home on a wild pitch.
After that the pitchers dominated until the sixth, when Phillip Roscoe singled off Alfimov, then made the first out on a fielder’s choice by Derick Dominguez.
After that out, Yoshimune Tsujii came in and Robert Dimperio singled and Edgar Quintana, Miguel Soto and Hicks each walked, forcing in Dominguez. Dimperio came in on the second out, then James Hall doubled, scoring Quintana, Soto and Hicks.
The Lions got their final run in the top of the seventh when Dimperio singled and Quintana tripled.
Scott Elitzky came in in relief for Galveston, allowing only one hit in 1.2 innings, with Justin Willis getting the final out.
“Our guys played really well on all sides of the ball. It was good,” Droddy said. “Not as good as last (Monday) night when we beat (Apollos manager) Andrew (Dunn), but it was good.”
“We got beat. No excuses,” said Gears manager Bill Moore. “They scored more runs than we did. That’s baseball.”
The only three Mesa hits came from Kyle Zimmerman (double), Brennan May and Zach Kreegar. Florio, the league’s leading hitter, was 3-for-3 for Galveston and Dimperio 2-for-3.
Despite finishing with a loss, Moore was happy with his team.
“I think I had some good guys,” he said. “Everybody we had; every single guy is getting an opportunity to go to spring camp. The camp was a good thing. A lot of camaraderie. A lot of friendships made. Just good old fashioned baseball.”
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