All bad things must come to an end, but for the Bisbee Copper Kings the end can't come soon enough.
After suffering seven straight losses, including the five racked up last weekend against the Mesa Garden of Gears and the Davis-Monthan Flying Mustangs, Bisbee's Boys of Summer are anxious to put the past behind them and to start winning ball games again.
"We just keep finding ways to beat ourselves when we're playing the Gears," said Copper Kings manager Greg Pennington.
While the Gears didn't need much help in defeating the Copper Kings in the two afternoon games of each double header played last weekend, Bisbee was definitely its own worst enemy in both nightcap games, blowing leads in the Friday and Saturday night games to lose in the final innings.
The Copper Kings lost the first game of Friday's doubleheader to Mesa, 11-4. Bisbee lost the second game, 7-6.
In the Friday afternoon opener, Bisbee took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the second inning, but the Gears responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third, four in the third and three more in the fifth frame.
Blake Berg, who will be a senior at Buena High School this fall, went the distance for Bisbee, giving up 11 runs off 15 hits and 4 bases on balls.
Jacob Amos, who graduated from Bisbee High School this year and Calen Pennington each produced two hits for Bisbee. The Copper Kings managed only eight hits during the seven inning contest.
Bisbee snatched defeat from the jaws of victory during the evening game. The Copper Kings led through the first seven innings, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second to lead 3-0.
Mesa was scoreless and hitless until the top of the fourth when they managed two runs off starting pitcher Kyle Cormier. The Gears erased Bisbee's lead in the top of the top of the seventh when they scored twice off relief pitcher Carlos Lopez, capitalizing on three walks, a suicide squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly to put the score at 4-3, Mesa.
The Copper Kings responded in their half of the seventh with three runs off three hits and a pair of walks to regain the lead at 6-4.
The Gears scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning and the go-ahead run in the ninth.
The Copper Kings were unable to generate much of an offense in the bottom of the ninth, stranding a runner.
Carlos Lopez was the losing pitcher for the Copper Kings, pitching three innings in relief, giving up five runs off five hits and four walks.
Second baseman Miguel Trujillo and designated hitter Thor Acuna each went two for four at the plate for Bisbee.
Saturday's doubleheader was eerily similar to Friday's. The Copper Kings lost the first game 13-6, and the second, 8-6.
In the opener, the Gears hammered Bisbee starting pitcher Calen Pennington for eight runs through the five innings he worked on the mound. Mesa then pounded relief pitcher Jacob Amos for five runs during the final two innings of play.
The Copper Kings scored one run in the bottom of the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and two more runs in the fifth frame.
Pennington, center fielder Sterling Shuller and first baseman Kyle Cormier each made a pair of hits for Bisbee.
The second game saw Mesa and Bisbee tied 1-1 after one inning. The Copper Kings added four runs off four hits and a walk in the bottom of the third.
The Gears scored twice off starting Bisbee pitcher Cody Bair in the top of the fourth inning to put the score at 5-3.
The Copper Kings scored again in the bottom of the eight when third baseman Miguel Trujillo singled in shortstop Destry Rice. With the score at 6-3, it appeared that Bisbee might finally pull off a win against the Garden of Gears.
But in the top of the ninth relief pitcher Tyler Johnston faltered, giving up three runs off four hits and a walk. When the last out was made, the score was tied at 6-6. Bisbee still had a chance to score a run in the bottom of the ninth to win the game.
But a pair of hits and a walk weren't enough to push a run across the plate, resulting in an extra-innings game.
Mesa took advantage of an error, two hits and a walk in the top of the tenth inning to go ahead 8-6.
The Kings went down in the bottom of the ninth, stranding a single runner on base to lose the game 8-6.
Tyler Johnston was the losing pitcher for the Copper Kings, giving up five runs, nine hits and three bases on balls in five innings of relief. Starter Cody Bair gave up three runs off four hits and seven walks in five innings on the mound.
Third baseman Miguel Trujillo, designated hitter Carlos Martinez and right fielder Blake Berg each made three hits for Bisbee.
Adding insult to injury, the Copper Kings lost the Sunday afternoon game played against the Flying Mustangs of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, 12-9. It was the first loss ever by Bisbee to D-M in the seven games played against the airmen during the past two years.
A short roster led manager Pennington to juggle his players around to fill the spots normally played by others.
Davis-Monthan scored first in the top of the first inning but the Bisbee boys responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first. The Flying Mustangs added another run in the second that was matched by Bisbee with a single run in the third innings.
The Flying Mustangs hammered starting Copper Kings pitcher Ramon Fernandez with a five-run scoring barrage in the top of the fourth. Bisbee countered with a single run in the bottom of the four to put the score at 7-4.
D-M added another run in the fifth to take an 8-4 lead. Bisbee responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth to narrow the visitors' lead to 8-5.
Davis-Monthan scored three runs in the sixth inning and another in the top of the eighth off relief pitcher Thor Acuna. The Copper Kings played catch-up for the rest of the game to no avail, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth and a final run in the eighth inning, leaving the score at 12-9, Flying Mustangs.
Ramon Fernandez was the losing pitcher for Bisbee, giving up eight runs off nine hits and a pair of walks in five innings. Reliever Thor Acuna gave up four runs off three hits and five walks. Closing pitcher Blake Berg pitched one inning, giving up no runs or hits and stranding a Mesa batter.
Blake Berg and Sterling Shuller each produced two hits in four trips to the plate for the Copper Kings.
The Copper Kings have lost all 10 games they have played against Mesa so far this season.
For Bisbee manager Greg Pennington, his team's inability to win against the Garden of Gears doesn't make a lot of sense.
"We beat the Casa Grande Cotton Kings, who beat the Gears," Pennington said. "Our problem is that right now we're about three pitchers short of a full rotation. The Gears hit well, but when we have Kyle (Cormier), Calen (Pennington) and Brandon (Orr) pitching, teams don't score a lot of runs against us."
Brandon Orr is expected to return soon, Pennington said. "We also expect Dominique Davis back at the end of the month. That will strengthen our relief pitching."
The loss of center fielder Armando Moran and third baseman James Lilley was a double blow to the Copper Kings. Neither played in last weekend's games and they are not expected to return to the team.
There were encouraging signs that the Copper Kings are not destined to repeat last weekend's disastrous performance.
"Every cloud has a silver lining, and ours has a sterling silver lining," Pennington said, referring to center fielder Sterling Shuller's superb performance over the weekend.
"Sterling is an outstanding defensive player. He made a "superman" catch during the Friday night game."
Shuller's eye-popping catch, made as he was flying horizontally through the air near the center field wall, robbed Mesa of what appeared to be a sure base hit. The catch even impressed the usually-taciturn Gears first base coach and former major leaguer Mitchell Page, who called it "the play of the season."
A former standout Bisbee High School athlete and a regular for the Copper Kings, Shuller has been offered an athletic scholarship to play at Sauk Valley Community College in Illinois, Pennington said.
The Bisbee Boys of Summer have an opportunity to redeem themselves when they take on the Tucson Nationals this weekend at Warren Ballpark for a four-game series. Both doubleheaders start at 4 p.m.
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