July 30, 2006

Sixth inning rally leads West to win
Dugout

In the five years that the Big League World Series has been in Easley, the U.S. West has appeared in the finals three times, and Latin America has been there twice. The West has advanced to the pool championships four times, while Latin America has been there three times.

So when the two teams faced each other on opening day of the 2006 Big League World Series, fans expected to see fireworks.

And the fireworks were there, with U.S. West, from Thousand Oaks, Calif., scoring six runs in the sixth inning to take a 10-5 victory over Puerto Rico.

After a quiet first inning, California scored 4 runs in the second. Brett Fick opened the inning with a solo home run. Kellen Fink, Kyle Jones and Garrett Rau had singles in the inning.

Jimmy Revas answered with a solo home run for Puerto Rico in the bottom of the inning, cutting California's lead to 4-1.

Carlos Davila knocked a run in with a double in the bottom of the fourth to bring Puerto Rico closer. Axel Gonzolas tied the game with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth.

California's six-run sixth inning featured a double by Cody Fierro and two singles by Garrett Rau and base hits by Kyle Jones Brett Fick.

Daniel Ortez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough for Puerto Rico.

For Puerto Rico, Fernanda Garcia hit two doubles in the game. Also hitting doubles were Victor Luke, Axel Gonzalez and Carolos Davila.

Mitch Rudebusch pitched four innings for California, giving up 2 runs. Chad Smith pitched the final three innings.