Behind a solid outing by lefty John Sparks, the SLO Blues beat the San Francisco Seals 11-5 on Saturday night at Sinsheimer Stadium.

With the win Blues are now 2-0 on the season.

Sparks — who was on a pitch limit according to the Blues play-by-play man — was very good. His Chris Sale-like delivery kept the Seals off-balance for just two runs through the first five innings.

With some significant funk in his delivery, John Sparks got through the first five innings relatively efficiently. By Owen Main

The Blues broke the game open in the fourth. Clutch hitting and some bases-loaded walks added up to a big six-run frame for the home side en route to the win.

Strawn goes down

Tyler Strawn, the third batter of the game for the Seals, was hit in the face with a pitch. Play was stopped as Strawn stayed down near home plate for about 10-15 minutes while trainers attended to him. Later, Strawn was later taken away in an ambulance and we really hope he will be all right.

As a random aside, I just finished a CPR/First Aid training on Thursday at work. From what little I know, it seemed like the Blues training staff did a really top-notch job handling the first aid until the paramedics arrived. I think they also had some help from a doctor and nurse who came down onto the field as Strawn was being attended to.

Thanks to everyone who responded so quickly

 Ay pitches in San Luis Obispo

In what may be his first outing in San Luis Obispo, future Cal Poly pitcher Bobby Ay pitched the eighth inning for the Blues. The high school senior who is probably a few weeks from graduating had a little bit of a rough outing, but managed to hold things together to give up just one run. Ay walked a batter, gave up a hit, and struck out three in his single inning of work.

More Cal Poly players will join Ay as Cal Poly’s spring quarter winds down and now that baseball season is officially over for the Mustangs. Along Ay, current Cal Poly students scheduled to play for the Blues include catcher Brett Barbier, Connor O’Hare, Kyle Peterson, John Schuknecht, and fellow incoming freshman Nigel Ward. Burton DeKoning is also on the team, which brings me to the next section here… .

DeKoning gets his first shot

Cal Poly football linebacker and baseball hopeful Burton DeKoning got his first action of the season. DeKoning walked in his first at-bat and was thrown out trying to steal second base. In his second at-bat, DeKoning singled home a run as the Blues began to extend their lead.

Here’s my post from earlier this month about DeKoning and his goal to play both football and baseball at Cal Poly next year.

The Blues are now halfway through their four-game series with the Seals. The two teams will finish the series with a pair of day games. First pitches are scheduled for 2:00 on Sunday and 1:00 on Monday.

Photos by Owen Main