Gold Sox look to finish with 20-game win streak

The kid who grew up on the shores of Maui, carving waves with his surfboard on a daily basis, isn't quite ready to return to paradise.

A.J. Alexander is dreading every hour, every minute that wanes off the clock today. Each passing second means the "best summer of his life" is about to end.

His host parent, and Gold Sox owner, Tom Lininger was sitting on the couch the other morning when Alexander explained his desire for this "dream summer" to continue.

It took Lininger a few minutes to comprehend why someone from the one of the top tourist destinations in the world would even consider anywhere else to be better.

Appeal-Democrat Park became home for Alexander.

He likes the plus-90 degree weather in the Mid-Valley.

He wants this current 19-game winning streak to continue.

He wants to savor the Horizon Air Summer Series McCullough Division title.

The last thing he wants today is to say goodbye to teammates, coaches and fans that he now considers his family.

Alexander and the rest of the Marysville Gold Sox are down to their final nine innings of baseball this summer after winning their penultimate game of the season on Saturday night, an 8-4 victory over the Solano County Bluebirds.

Alexander was 3 for 4 with two doubles in the win.

He's not quite ready to wake up in the morning and see the ocean again, and ride the waves of Wailuku, also the hometown of big-leaguers Kurt Suzuki and Shane Victorino.

Although Alexander misses home, in 24 hours, he'll be on a plane, crossing the Pacific, reminiscing about his time in Marysville.

"I'm really not looking forward to that," Alexander said. "It's going to be a tough and a sad moment for all of us."

The 2011 Gold Sox (38-8-1) are leaving a lasting imprint.

The McCullough Division title was clinched last Sunday and that hasn't deterred any player from showing up for the final weekend of the season.

After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the second inning on Saturday, Marysville plated three runs in the bottom of the frame to jump ahead.

Mitch Wilhite and Casey Coy both had RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 5-3. Marysville scored three more in the seventh to put things out of reach.

Saturday's starting pitcher Kenton Bevacqua, a 2009 River Valley High graduate, is concluding his second straight summer with the team and has earned a scholarship to Oklahoma State.

"We became so close with each other," Bevacqua said. "It will be weird not seeing them next weekend."

The man who's endured the tearful Sunday send-off the past four seasons is manager Jack Johnson.

His team's excellent performance on the field has provided the perfect distraction. He's not thinking about the final farewell because his focus is on his team ending the season with 20 straight wins.

When the final out is made tonight he'll have to accept that this may be goodbye — forever.

"They know this is the last time they'll play with each other," Johnson said. "They just want to go out successfully."