The Tropics begin the sprint to the finish on the road. The Trops begin with a 13-game road trip in Long Beach with a four-game series against the Surfers. Hawaii is 2-4 vs the Surfers so far this season.
Game 1- The Tropics survive a furious Surfers comeback attempt to win the series opener. Long Beach scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to narrow the Hawaii lead to 8-7. Relievers Alberto Castaneda and Dominic Thompson stifled the Surfers charge to get the win. Castaneda allowed a run on two hits and a walk with two Ks in 1 2/3 innings. He handed the ball to Thompson to get the last out and he didn’t disappoint as he induced a ground ball to end the game.
Troy ‘Teddy Bear’ Reynolds made the start for Hawaii going five innings allowing four runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out four batters and earned the win to improve to 4-4 with a 4/50 ERA.
Ron Shiplack was 3 for 5 with a two-run homer. He scored two runs and drove in three runs. Stewart Illingworth picked up where he left off before the all star break. He was 1 for 4 with a solo homer and a walk. He scored two runs and drove in one run. Angelo Lucchesi was 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Hawaii wins 8-7.
Game 2- The Surfers break through after trailing 2-0 against Hawaii. They score two runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth to even the series 1-1. Terry Hansen was cruising along for the Trops before giving up two runs in the seventh and leaving the game with the score tied. He pitched 6 1/3 innings allowing two runs on six hits and a walk while fanning three batters. Hansen said, “I made some mistakes after that fly out to start the inning. Those two singles and double did me in today.”
Dominic Thompson finished the seventh for Hansen allowing no runs or hits with a K. Alberto Castaneda took the loss after allowing a run on a hit and a walk in an inning of work. He falls to 5-2 with a 2.01 ERA.
Bart Henstock came on to pinch run and play second for Hawaii after Thomas Kramer left the game with an injury. Henstock was 1 for 3 with a double and two RBI. Lucchesi was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Long Beach wins 3-2.
Game 3- The Hawaii offense erupts for 11 runs on 17 hits to take a 2-1 series lead. Adhyapayana Mehta led the way for the offense as the leadoff hitter was 3 for 5 with two doubles, a walk, a stolen base, two runs scored and three RBI. Karunamaya Makarand, hitting in the two hole, was 2 for 3 with a walk and two RBI. Stewart Illingworth was 2 for 5 with a double and two runs scored. Ramao ‘Massacre’ Saturnino added a 3 for 5 day with a double and two runs scored. Hector Vazquez has given Hawaii some production as the DH. He was 2 for 3 in this game with a walk, a stolen base, two runs scored and two ribbies.
On the mound, Semih Gurani was masterful as he threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. He allowed four hits, walked two and fanned three batters. He improved to 8-8 with a 3.72 ERA. Austin George imploded for Hawaii allowing four runs in 1 1/3 innings before the Trops brought in Sumitomo Takahashi. Takahashi pitched an inning allowing two hits and a walk while striking out a batter.
Hawaii wins 11-4.
Game 4- The Surfers get a series split with Hawaii after putting up a big five run inning against the Tropics in the fourth. Michael Kalil ate some innings but allowed six runs on ten hits and struck out three in the loss. He falls to 2-11 with a 5.89 ERA.
Hector Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Stewart Illingworth was 1 for 4 with a triple and a run scored. Rhys Brickell was 1 for 4 with an RBI.
Long Beach wins 8-2.
The Surfers and Tropics split the four game series.
