When the Healdsburg Prune Packers set out to win an unheard of three-peat as California Collegiate League champions, their chances looked pretty good.
Now they look better. With 14 straight victories without a loss over both league and non-league opponents, the 102-year-old franchise is setting the history books on fire with a juggernaut of big wins and come-from-behind victories that shows no signs of slowing down.
As the Tribune goes to press, they are playing the Bay Area Admirals for the sixth game in a row. Of course, it’s possible they’ll lose, if not in Wednesday night’s game, then surely sometime in the next six weeks. (Editor’s note: They won the game, 10-0, for their 15th straight victory.)
But for now, fans should hustle over to Rec Park for the home games and enjoy the excitement of a record run.
The series with the Admirals began last Friday, June 16, when coach Joey Gomes sent right-hander Caden Bugarske to the mound. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because his grandfather, Richard Bugarske, is the team president and public address announcer at all home games.
The elder Bugarske, who played at Healdsburg High when he was in school, said his grandson started his organized ball career with the Cal Ripken league in Windsor before the family moved to Boerne, Texas.
“After high school, Caden went to Concordia Nebraska University and is playing baseball for them now,” said the team president. “He just finished his third year at Concordia, and the team has had great success at the NAIA level, even getting to the NAIA World Series in 2021.”
Caden Bugarske, one of several players returning to the Packers roster this year, racked up a 5-0 record in non-conference games last year. He got his first win this year with the June 16 game, pitching strong for six innings, a season-high for any Packer pitcher, while giving up no runs, no walks and striking out five.
Offensive Rallies
On the other side of the plate, the Packers offense took advantage of five Admiral errors, and scored 10 runs. Hunter Dorraugh (a San Jose State talent) went two-for-three, while Kramer and Kyle Russell (of Washington State) each had two RBIs.
The Admirals rallied in the eighth, scoring six runs with two outs after a pop fly right in front of home plate eluded four Packer infielders to extend the inning. Healdsburg held on as infielder-turned-pitcher Connor Charpiot recorded the final four outs, extending the Packers longest winning streak on the books.
The excitement was matched the next night in a wild, back-and-forth, extra-inning contest. Though the Packers ultimately came out on top, 7-6, it took 11 innings to settle the score. With Healdsburg up 2-0 headed into the third, seven consecutive Admirals reached base on four hits to take a 4-2 lead.
Though back-to-back RBI singles from Packers Dorraugh and Christian Almanza tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth inning, the Admirals hit a leadoff homer in the fifth, giving Bay Area the 5-4 lead. It was just the second home run Packers pitching has allowed this season.
With the Packers 10-game win streak on the line and in front of arguably the largest home crowd of the season enjoying the Saturday night action, the Packers rallied yet to tie the game at five-all in the eighth, sending it into extra innings after a scoreless ninth.
Both teams scored one in the 10th before position player Alex Leopard pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the game tied headed to the bottom of the 11th. That’s when Kyle Russell hit a walk-off RBI single to lift Healdsburg to a 7-6 victory in 11 innings.
Double Header
Saturday’s excitement was more than matched with a rare double-header on Sunday, June 18, played at the Admirals park at Solano Community College. A tight back-and-forth marked the first game, which ended with a narrow 3-2 win for the Packers on a Hunter Dorraugh sacrifice fly.
Win number 13 was no less nerve-wracking. The Packers scored a pair of runs in the top of the first to take a brief lead before Ryan Pierce’s two-run homer and Jerryd Wood’s RBI double gave the Admirals a 3-2 lead in the bottom half.
Reigning California Collegiate League home-run leader Jared Sundstrom tied the game in the fifth with his first home run of the season for the Packers. The Admirals’ lackluster defense proved costly in the sixth, as they allowed the go-ahead run to reach third on an error and allowed the runner to score on another miscue, the Admirals’ fifth error of the game.
Healdsburg scored two more runs in the inning, resulting in a 6-3 Packer victory, for the team’s 13th consecutive win to start the season.
Tuesday night, the fifth game in the series between the two CCL rivals, was a tense match between the two teams, by now quite familiar with each other. At one point, they were up by five runs, 9-4, but somehow only barely escaped with a 10-9 win as the Admirals doggedly put together a mid-game rally.
But a win is still a win, and that makes 14 in a row for this year’s Prune Packers.
Aaron Arnstein of the Prune Packers communications department contributed to this report.
