May 25: Ehlers Caps Huge Comeback with Two-Out RBI Single in 10th

During a 96-game baseball season, some wins are bigger than others. On Sunday afternoon, just about everyone in a Goldeyes uniform agreed that a gutsy, 6-5, come-from-behind win over the Kansas City T-Bones will be remembered as one of the bigger ones.

With two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth, the Goldeyes battled back from a 5-1 deficit to send the game to extra innings.

What made it all so sweet was the clutch, two-out game-winning single from first baseman Cody Ehlers in the 10th to beat the T-Bones in an absolute thriller. With the win, the Fish improved to 6-2 and regained sole possession of first place in the Northern League.

For Ehlers, the hero, it was just another day at the park: two-for-five, a double in the ninth, a run scored and an RBI single to win it in extra innings.

“He threw me a fastball,” said Ehlers, referring to the pitch he hit for the game-winning run. “I wasn’t even going to swing at it, but it was just too good to pass up.”

“Great hitter, lousy liar,” quipped catcher Dustin Richardson, when he heard Ehlers’s comment.

Both laughed. In fact, there is a lot of laughter in the Goldeyes clubhouse right now.

“It just seems like we’re never out of it,” said first base coach Rudy Arias. “No matter who goes up there, he’s a confident hitter. When you have confident hitters, there is always a chance something good can happen.”

True, but there is a lot more to this offence than just confident hitters and a few clutch hits. Right now, the Goldeyes have Wes Long, who went three-for-four with an RBI and a run scored on Sunday and is now hitting .447; Richardson, who was two-for-four with an RBI and a run scored on Sunday and is now at .414; and 35-year-old Juan Diaz, who was two-for-four with a run scored on Sunday, now hitting .313 and hustling like a rookie.

“On Sunday, Juan Diaz showed us the type of people we have on this team,” said Arias. “The way he hustled down the line after a strikeout and beat the throw to first, well that just said so much about this team. He’s a 35-year-old veteran slugger who isn’t asked to do that, but he did it anyway. That’s the kind of team we have.”