Blaze win first-half Cal North crown

Batting ninth in the Bakersfield order, Niko Vasquez was an unlikely candidate to play the role of hero Thursday. But it was the designated hitter who had the biggest impact on the game.

Class A Advanced Bakersfield rallied to beat the Lake Elsinore Storm, 4-2. The victory helped the Blaze to a league-best 40-28 record and snap San Jose's streak of seven consecutive first-half North Division crowns.

"It feels real good," said manager Ken Griffey. "We were struggling, but we came back and everything came into place. We won at our place and that was a big plus."

Trailing, 2-0, the Blaze were held to one hit over the first five innings against Burch Smith, before breaking through with a two-run sixth on Billy Hamilton's infield RBI single and Dominic D'Anna's sacrifice fly. With San Jose edging Modesto, 6-5, earlier in the day, Bakersfield needed a victory to seal the first-half title. Vasquez delivered the decisive blow in the seventh inning, smacking a two-out, two-run homer off Smith to complete the comeback.

"It was a fastball away," Griffey said. "He has been hitting the ball well to right field and right-center field. He hit a double off the wall earlier and [Smith] came back with the same pitch."

The Blaze will have a first-round bye and home-field advantage when the playoffs get underway in September.

"We will see," said Griffey, when asked about the chance of a championship this fall. "We still have the whole of the second half to go. But the consistency of our starting staff has been important and then, late in the game, we have a couple guys who have been big for us."

On Thursday, Bakersfield right-hander Pat Doyle (7-2) scattered three hits over 3 1/3 innings in relief of Jamie Walczak, who fanned seven batters and allowed two runs over the first four frames. Brian Pearl struck out four batters and worked around one hit to earn his 13 save.

Lake Elsinore's Smith (5-4) allowed all four runs -- two earned -- while punching out six batters over seven innings in a losing effort.