July 7, 2016 Santa Barbara, CA The Academy Barons scored three times in their first at bat today in Santa Barbara and that was more than enough for their pitching staff as the Barons beat the Foresters 4-2. Coming into the game the Academy trailed the Foresters by a half-game for the top spot in the CCL standings but starting pitcher Henry Omana, who pitched six innings, scattering four hits and striking out two, kept Santa Barbara at bay before turning the ball over to Oscar Munoz (two innings, no hits and three strikeouts) and Reece Buska (one run on two hits) to close the game out and vault the Academy into first place. The Barons jumped on Santa Barbara's starting pitcher Kyle Johnston (Texas) right from the start. James Stea (Valparaiso) laced the second pitch of the game into the right-center gap for an opening triple and Ernie De la Trinidad reached base after being hit on an 0-2 pitch. Johnston got the next two hitters before allowing a RBI single by Cody De Beste (Prairie View A&M), and then the Foresters defense allowed two more runs to score, the first on an error and the next on a passed ball. See the boxscore/recap here. Also in the CCL today: Redwood City, CA The Walnut Creek Crawdads scored three runs in their first at bat today at Canada College but, just to show how the game would turn out, the Menlo Park Legends scored seven in theirs and go on to blowout the Crawdads 14-4. The Legends scored their seven first inning runs on four walks and four hits, the biggest of which was a two-run home run by Miguel Pimentel (Lee U), the first of his four hits in the game. Chadler Bengston (Columbia) hit a two-run home run of his own the following inning and Justin Jacobs (Gonzaga) added three hits to help lead Menlo Park's 14-hit attack. See the boxscore/recap here. La Mirada, CA Jake Lochner (Missouri State) pitched six innings of shutout baseball and struck out nine as the Southern California Catch blanked the Conejo Oaks today 6-0 at Biola University. Daniel Ramirez (Mt. SAC) hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and added two singles later, and Caleb Potter (West Virginia) had two hits and two RBI to lead the Catch offense. See the boxscore/recap here. San Luis Obispo, CA The San Luis Obispo Blues beat the Healdsburg Prune Packers for the second night in a row, winning the series between the two teams 2-1, with a 5-4 win tonight at Sinsheimer Park. Luke Eigsti (Alabama Birmingham) had three hits and Garrett Dodd (Louisiana Tech) scored four times to lead the Blues. Jamey Smart (Loyola Marymount) had three hits in a losing cause for Healdsburg. Graham Ahlrich (Louisiana Tech) picked up the win on the mound for the Blues, pitching three innings of relief while striking out four. See the boxscore/recap here.