Shannon's arm, bat power Gold Sox to win

A man of two identities, Mark Shannon used both of his baseball personas to deliver the Marysville Gold Sox their 11th straight victory.

Enter Mark Shannon the batter: Two outs, runners on second and third, Shannon stepped into the left-handed batter's box in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With the score tied 2-2, Shannon smoked an opposite-field single to left to plate Daniel Russell and put the Gold Sox ahead 3-2.

To finish the job, Mark Shannon the pitcher entered the game for the final six outs.

A lefty with an 88-plus fastball and harsh slider, Shannon switches his focus from bringing in runs to preventing them by any means necessary.

In the top of the eighth inning, Shannon cut down a Neptune Beach Pearl baserunner trying to score from third on a ground ball and ended the inning with a strikeout on a 90 mph fastball.

That efficiency continued into the top of the ninth where he recorded the final out of the ballgame on a 79 mph slider for a strikeout and secured a 4-2 victory at Appeal-Democrat Park.

"That's what I live for," Shannon said. "I live to come into those clutch situations and shut it down. I got to come in and get a clutch hit then shut the door."

Shannon's six-out save concluded a strong performance from the Gold Sox pitching staff on Saturday night.

Starter Josh Wedesky pitched 52⁄3 innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts to pick up his third victory of the summer.

Marysville's offense needed that effort as the Sox were outhit by the Pearl 10-6. The Gold Sox amassed 24 hits in their two previous games.

Shannon scored Marysville's first run in the bottom of the third on a balk. Brent Ohrman knocked in the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.

Justin Charles followed Shannon's RBI single in the seventh inning with a bloop hit to right field to knock in A.J. Alexander.

Sandwiched between a clutch hit and clutch pitching, Shannon had about five warm-up pitches to prepare to hold a two-run lead.

The soon-to-be UNLV Runnin' Rebel said he's been a two-way player his whole life.

"I love (pitching and hitting) both and I don't want to ever have to stop doing one of them," Shannon said.

Shannon's effort keeps Marysville at the top of the Horizon Air Summer Series' Don McCullough Division.

The season standings are posted in the locker room as a daily reminder to every player in the clubhouse that there is still work to be done.

"They know what's at stake," Gold Sox manager Jack Johnson said. "This team has bought in. They have 100 percent focus on every game they play."

Marysville's (30-8-1) victory eliminated the Pearl from contention in the division race and the Sox kept hold of their 11⁄2-game lead over the defending champion Seattle Studs.

Nine games remain this summer and the magic number for Marysville's first HASS championship since 2007 is 5.

Shannon is about to finish his second summer with the Gold Sox.

This fall he begins his third baseball season with his third different college team. Through all the transition, Marysville is the team he's been calling home more than any other.

"I just love to come out here and play," Shannon said. "It's good to be able to show off everything I can do."