Best Individual Performances of the 2023 San Rafael Pacifics Season
The 2023 San Rafael Pacifics season was filled with memorable individual performances, and many of the biggest came during a championship run. The Pacifics received dominant starting pitching, explosive offensive games and clutch postseason performances on their way to the 2023 Pecos League Championship.
Blake Diggle Blasts Three Home Runs Against Dublin
Blake Diggle delivered one of the most memorable power performances of the entire 2023 Pacifics season on July 6 against the Dublin Leprechauns.
Diggle went
3-for-4 and hit three home runs as San Rafael overwhelmed Dublin 17-0 at Albert Park.
Hitting three home runs in one game made it one of the signature individual performances of the Pacifics' championship season. Diggle supplied the power while the San Rafael pitching staff shut Dublin out.
View July 6 Box Score »
Grant Victor Goes a Perfect 5-for-5
Grant Victor had one of the best pure hitting performances of the season on June 18 against Dublin.
Victor went a perfect
5-for-5 as San Rafael erupted for 26 runs in a 26-2 victory at Albert Park.
Five hits in five official at-bats made Victor's performance one of the biggest offensive games by any Pacifics hitter in 2023.
View June 18 Box Score »
Alex Valasek Throws a Complete Game with 11 Strikeouts
The same June 18 victory featured an equally impressive performance on the mound from
Alex Valasek.
Valasek pitched the entire
nine innings, allowing only three hits and one earned run while striking out 11 and walking two.
It was a dominant complete-game performance. While the Pacifics offense was scoring 26 runs, Valasek completely controlled the other side of the game.
View June 18 Box Score »
Valasek Strikes Out 11 in Seven Shutout Innings
Alex Valasek had another dominant performance on June 11 against the Marysville Drakes.
Valasek threw
seven shutout innings, allowed only two hits, walked two and struck out 11 as the Pacifics defeated Marysville 4-0.
The Drakes were unable to generate anything against Valasek, who combined swing-and-miss stuff with excellent run prevention to give San Rafael another victory.
View June 11 Box Score »
Valasek Fans 13 Against Dublin
The strikeouts kept coming for
Alex Valasek on July 8 against Dublin.
Valasek worked
seven innings and struck out 13 hitters while allowing only four hits as San Rafael defeated the Leprechauns 12-1 at Albert Park.
Thirteen strikeouts represented one of the biggest strikeout totals by a Pacifics pitcher during the championship season.
View July 8 Box Score »
Nick Smith Homers Behind Valasek's 13-Strikeout Start
Nick Smith supplied offensive support during Valasek's dominant July 8 start.
Smith went
2-for-2 and hit a home run as the Pacifics defeated Dublin 12-1.
Smith reached safely throughout the game and provided power in a victory dominated by the Pacifics on both sides of the ball.
View July 8 Box Score »
Blake Diggle Goes 4-for-4 Against Bakersfield
Just four days before his three-home-run performance,
Blake Diggle had another huge offensive game.
Diggle went a perfect
4-for-4 on July 2 as San Rafael defeated the Bakersfield Train Robbers 20-6 at Sam Lynn Ballpark.
The four-hit performance helped the Pacifics pile up 20 runs and gave Diggle a remarkable stretch in which he followed a perfect four-hit game with a three-home-run performance four days later.
View July 2 Box Score »
Grant Victor Homers in Three-Hit Game
Grant Victor produced another standout performance on July 4 against the Lancaster Sound Breakers.
Victor went
3-for-4 and hit a home run as San Rafael defeated Lancaster 10-5 at Albert Park.
The three-hit performance came only a little more than two weeks after Victor's perfect 5-for-5 game against Dublin.
View July 4 Box Score »
Kyle Guerra Homers in 8-7 Victory
Kyle Guerra delivered a big performance on July 7 against the Vallejo Seaweed.
Guerra went
2-for-4 with a home run as San Rafael edged Vallejo 8-7 at Albert Park.
The Pacifics needed every run in the one-run victory, making Guerra's home run especially important. Blake Diggle also continued his hot stretch by going 3-for-4.
View July 7 Box Score »
Kohto Hasegawa Throws Seven Scoreless Innings
Kohto Hasegawa turned in one of San Rafael's strongest starts on July 15 against Vallejo.
Hasegawa pitched
seven innings without allowing an earned run, struck out seven, allowed six hits and walked only two.
The Pacifics gave him plenty of support in a 14-1 victory, but Hasegawa made sure the outcome was never in doubt by controlling Vallejo's lineup throughout his seven innings.
View July 15 Box Score »
Eric Parnow Throws Seven Scoreless Innings Against Dublin
Eric Parnow delivered an excellent start on July 20 against the Dublin Leprechauns.
Parnow pitched
seven innings without allowing an earned run, struck out six, allowed six hits and walked only one.
San Rafael won the low-scoring game 4-1, and Parnow's ability to keep Dublin off the scoreboard gave the Pacifics the pitching performance they needed.
View July 20 Box Score »
John Bicos Drives In Six in 16-14 Slugfest
John Bicos delivered one of the biggest RBI performances of the season on July 30 against the Martinez Sturgeon.
Bicos drove in an incredible
six runs and hit a home run as San Rafael survived an 11-inning slugfest, 16-14.
The Pacifics and Sturgeon combined for 30 runs and 34 hits, and Bicos' six RBIs represented more than one-third of San Rafael's run production.
View July 30 Box Score »
Blake Diggle Drives In Four and Scores Four Times
Blake Diggle added another huge game to his outstanding season in the July 30 victory over Martinez.
Diggle went
3-for-6 with a home run, a double, four RBIs and four runs scored.
It was another display of Diggle's combination of power and run production. Between his three-home-run game, his 4-for-4 performance and this four-RBI game, Diggle produced several of San Rafael's biggest offensive performances of 2023.
View July 30 Box Score »
Nick Smith Collects Four Hits in Extra-Inning Win
Nick Smith was another major contributor in San Rafael's July 30 victory.
Smith went
4-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored. He also drew a walk, reaching base five times in the 11-inning game.
His four hits were the most by a Pacifics hitter in the 16-14 victory.
View July 30 Box Score »
Kevin Johnson Homers Twice Against Martinez
Kevin Johnson supplied more of the power in the July 30 slugfest.
Johnson went
2-for-5 with two home runs, four runs scored, two RBIs and two walks.
The two-home-run game gave the Pacifics another major power performance during a contest in which San Rafael hit four home runs.
View July 30 Box Score »
Kyle Guerra Scores Four Times to Win the Pacific Division
Kyle Guerra played a major role in one of the most important victories of the season on August 4 against the Bakersfield Train Robbers.
Guerra had
two hits, drew two walks and scored four runs as San Rafael rallied for a dramatic 9-8 victory to win the Pacific Division title.
In the bottom of the ninth, Guerra led off with a walk, stole second and scored the tying run on Kevin Johnson's double. San Rafael later completed the comeback and advanced to the Pecos League Championship Series.
View August 4 Box Score »
Kevin Johnson Delivers in Pacific Division Clincher
Kevin Johnson came through in one of San Rafael's biggest games of the year on August 4.
Johnson finished with
two hits and three RBIs in the 9-8 victory over Bakersfield.
His biggest hit came in the bottom of the ninth when he doubled home Kyle Guerra with the tying run. The Pacifics went on to score the winning run later in the inning and capture the Pacific Division championship.
View August 4 Box Score »
Alex Valasek Dominates Game One of the Championship Series
Alex Valasek saved one of his best performances for the biggest stage.
In Game One of the Pecos League Championship Series on August 10, Valasek pitched
8 1/3 innings, allowed only five hits and two earned runs and struck out 10 as San Rafael defeated the Tucson Saguaros 5-3.
Valasek threw 133 pitches before Chris Johnson recorded the final two outs. The victory gave San Rafael a 1-0 lead in the championship series.
View August 10 Championship Box Score »
Kevin Johnson Homers in Championship Series Opener
Kevin Johnson provided the offensive punch behind Valasek in Game One against Tucson.
Johnson had
two hits, including a two-run home run and a double. His two-run homer opened the scoring in the fourth inning and gave Valasek an early lead to work with.
View August 10 Championship Box Score »
Eric Parnow Throws a Championship Shutout
The biggest pitching performance of the season came from
Eric Parnow with the Pecos League Championship on the line.
On August 12, Parnow threw a
complete-game shutout, struck out 11 and allowed only three hits as San Rafael defeated Tucson 2-0.
There could hardly have been a better time for a complete-game shutout. Parnow controlled Tucson from beginning to end and finished the game himself as the Pacifics captured the 2023 Pecos League Championship.
View August 12 Championship Box Score »
John Bicos Drives Home a Run in the Championship Clincher
John Bicos delivered one of the most important hits of the entire season in the championship game.
With San Rafael protecting a narrow lead, Bicos delivered a run-scoring hit that brought
Nick Smith home and gave Parnow and the Pacifics a 2-0 advantage.
Those two runs were all Parnow needed as San Rafael completed its championship season with the 2-0 victory.
View August 12 Championship Box Score »
A Championship Season Filled with Individual Performances
The 2023 Pacifics received standout performances throughout the roster.
Blake Diggle produced a three-home-run game, a perfect 4-for-4 performance and a four-RBI game.
Grant Victor had a perfect 5-for-5 game and later added a three-hit game with a home run.
John Bicos drove in six runs in one game and later delivered an RBI in the championship clincher.
Kyle Guerra,
Nick Smith and
Kevin Johnson all produced important offensive performances during the regular season and postseason.
On the mound,
Alex Valasek turned in a remarkable collection of dominant starts: seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts against Marysville, a complete game with 11 strikeouts against Dublin, 13 strikeouts in another Dublin victory and 8 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts in Game One of the championship series.
Kohto Hasegawa and
Eric Parnow also delivered outstanding starts, but Parnow's final performance was the perfect ending: nine scoreless innings, three hits allowed and 11 strikeouts to win the Pecos League Championship.
The 2023 San Rafael Pacifics season ultimately ended the way every team hopes its season will end — with one of its pitchers on the mound, a zero on the opponent's side of the scoreboard and a championship celebration at Albert Park.
