Almadova Sprints Rawhide to Thrilling Game 1 Victory

VISALIA--Every other baserunner would've stopped.

Breland Almadova isn't every other baserunner.

With a dash for the ages, Almadova scored from 2nd on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the 9th, giving Visalia a heart-stopping 3-2 win in Game 1 of the California League Finals.

With runners at 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Kevin Medrano hit a chopper to the 2nd baseman, who fed his shortstop for an out at 2nd. Chan Moon, seeing he had no chance to throw Medrano out at 1st, pump-faked, then spun around towards 3rd, hoping to catch Almadova rounding the bag too far.

He did...but Almadova kept right on going. Moon, never expecting him to actually try to score, threw towards 3rd, and when 3rd baseman Rio Ruiz relayed the ball to the plate, Almadova beat it with a head-first dive. It was a close call, and Lancaster were adamant that plate umpire Sean Allen's call was wrong (one Lancaster player, who couldn't be identified, was ejected in the post-call argument).

For 8 1/2 innings, the game was all about pitching. Both starters threw well; Blayne Weller allowed a run on back-to-back 2-out doubles by Rio Ruiz and Tyler White in the top of the 1st, but settled in after that.

Down 1-0 early, the 'Hide tied it in the bottom of the 2nd of JetHawks lefty Brian Holmes; Alex Glenn was hit by an 0-2 pitch, George Roberts doubled him to 3rd, and with 1 out, Almadova knocked him in with sacrifice fly to right. It was 1-1.

In the last of the 4th, Roberts crushed a pitch from Holmes well over the wall in right-center field, giving Visalia a 2-1 lead. It was Roberts' 2nd homer of the playoffs, after not hitting one in a regular season month with the club.

Lancaster tied it in the 6th, when Moon was hit by a pitch, Ruiz singled, and White picked up his 2nd RBI of the game with a sac fly to right-center.

From there, it became a battle of the bullpen, and the Rawhide were very comfortable in that familiar setting. After Weller departed with 2 out in the 6th, Keith Hessler retired a batter to end the frame, Will Locante worked a scoreless 7th, Joey Krehbiel tossed a 1-2-3 8th, and Enrique Burgos hurled a perfect 9th (and then earned the win). Rawhide relievers struck out 7 JetHawks batters over the final 3 frames.

In bottom of the 9th, Almadova set up his own heroics by doubling to left-center, with the ball just grazing off the glove of the lunging Danry Vazquez. After a popout and an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Raul Navarro, Medrano hit his ground ball...and the rest was history.

Wonderful history, the Rawhide hope. Their quest to claim the franchise's first California League title since 1978 is now 2 wins from becoming a reality.

They'll look to take another massive step towards the crown tomorrow, with Game 2 at Rawhide Ballpark beginning at 7:00. It'll be the last home of the season, and there'll be a live alligator and everything (seriously!), so don't miss it!

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