After losing their first nine games of the second half of the Cal League season, the Inland Empire 66ers have turned things around.  They’ve won four out of the last five games and sit two games out of the Cal League South Wild Card spot.  The High Desert Mavericks are in town for the weekend and it could end up being a very important series for both teams as both are in the hunt for that Wild Card spot.

The home stand started out with an exciting 7-1 victory over the Visalia Rawhide on the 4th of July in front of 7,892.  It was the biggest crowd the 66ers have seen all season long at Arrowhead Credit Union Park and seemingly every fan stayed afterwards for the impressive 15 min firework show.  Inland Empire then took the next game as Kyle Hurst gave an outstanding pitching performance picking up his sixth win of the season in the 6-1 win.  Although they dropped the final game of the series to the Rawhide and couldn’t complete the sweep, they still got the series win.

It’s been in the mid to high 90s all week here in San Bernardino, CA, and the heat doesn’t look to be letting up anytime soon as forecasts predict similar weather patterns to be coming through during the weekend.  Matt Long looks to add to his league leading triple count in this series and Michael Wing will try to extend his hitting streak to 12 games tonight.  66ers right fielder, Kole Calhoun, will try to continue to be the force in the middle of this lineup as he has been the most consistent hitter throughout the course of this 2011 Cal League campaign.  With 56 games to play in the second half of this Cal League season, a lot is on the line and it all starts with this series with the High Desert Mavericks.

–Danny Day, 66ers Media Relations