Category: CCL Features - Page 6 - California Collegiate League (CCL)

March 15, 2020

LOS ANGELES, CA — In response to the spread of COVID-19 and its effects on our nation and the international sports community, the California Collegiate League feels it prudent to make the following statement regarding our status and the upcoming 2020 summer collegiate baseball season.

Presently, in an abundance of caution, many of the California State Public Health Departments have recommended canceling or postponing non-essential gatherings of various sizes. On Thursday, the NCAA announced that it has canceled all remaining winter/spring sports championships, including the 2020 College World Series. In addition, many conferences throughout the NCCA, from Divisions I, II, and III, have canceled or suspended the remainder of their 2020 winter/spring sports seasons. Understanding the gravity of these actions, we appreciate the steps taken by the governing bodies to protect both the public and our student-athletes. Equally, we empathize with the hundreds of student-athletes whose seasons have abruptly ended. While the public gets to enjoy watching competition in March, what is unrealized is that those games were won some early morning in October.

At this current time, the California Collegiate League plans, with careful restraint, and in accordance with state and federal guidelines, to conduct the 2020 summer collegiate baseball season as planned. The CCL and its members will continue to closely monitor the state of public health within our communities and the greater State of California over the upcoming months, and recognize that this position could change. That being said, we plan to proceed in a cautious and pragmatic manner. We will reassess this decision based on the trajectory of our environment over the next two months. We will accommodate any necessary variations to protect the health of our players, staff members, and volunteers; and any updates will be communicated with the utmost expediency.

For questions or more information, contact Aaron Milam at (626) 695-6903 or aaron@arroyosecobaseball.com.

August 13, 2019
The CCL announced its 2019 All-League Team today and Eric Kennedy (Texas) the outfielder and leadoff man for the league champion Santa Barbara Foresters was named the league’s Most Valuable Player, and Brad Demco (Oklahoma), the left-handed pitcher for the Santa Barbara Foresters, was named the Most Valuable Pitcher. Kennedy posted a league-best .400 batting average, led the league in hits (46), stolen bases (21), triples (3), was second in runs scored (28) and was in the top ten in both home runs (3) and RBI (18). Demco, arguably, had the best personal performance in the league this year. He finished league play without allowing an earned run, allowed only two hits in 18 and two-thirds innings, and struck out a league-best 35 batters.

A full listing of the 2019 All-CCL team, which was selected by the seven managers of the league, can be viewed here.

July 27, 2019

Thousand Oaks, CA

The Healdsburg Prune Packers and the Santa Barbara Foresters spilt the firs two games of the best-of-three CCL Championship Series at Sparky Anderson Field, Santa Barbara winning the first game 8-5 and Healdsburg winning the second 9-5, to setup a winner-take-all championship game tomorrow at noon.

Luke Taggert (Incarnate Word) pitched five scoreless innings, Jacob Katzfey (Wichita State) hit a two-run single, Blake Hall (Oral Roberts) stole home and drove in a run and Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) had two hits and scored once to lead the Foresters to the first game win. Taggert was the starting pitcher in this game for Santa Barbara and retired the first eight batters he faced in order before an error and a single put the first two runners on base for Healdsburg with two outs in the third. Taggert stranded those runners by inducing a groundball out to end the third inning, pitched around another error and another single to leadoff the fourth by striking out one batter and getting a groundball double-play to end that inning, and retired the side again in the fifth to hold the Packers scoreless through five. By this time the Foresters had built a 4-0 lead, scoring three times in their first at bat when Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) singled and Christian Franklin (Arkansas) walked with one out and, after another out was recorded, an error allowed Bellafronto to score and put two runners on board in front of Katsfey’s single. Santa Barbara took advantage of another error in the third inning which allowed Hall to reach base safely who, after advancing to second on Jones’ first hit of the game and then stealing third, stole home on the pitch safely with the fourth Foresters run. All four runs were charged to Healdsburg’s starting pitcher Kenny Haus (UConn) who gave up three hits and walked three in three innings of work. Andrew Hansen (St. Mary’s) retired the first six batters he faced to pitch the fourth and fifth innings scoreless and started the sixth with the lead after the Packers rallied for five runs in the top of the sixth, scoring once on Taggert who surrendered a leadoff home run to Cal Conley (Texas Tech) and a single before Cole Quintanilla (Texas) took over the pitching duties. Quintanilla, pitching with a runner on and no outs, recorded outs against the first two batters he faced before Travis Turney (Portland) singled to get a second runner on base, David Langer (UConn) hit an RBI-single and John Lagatutta (Cal) hit a three-run home run to give the Packers their first lead 5-4, a lead it would turn out would not last very long. After Quintanilla struck out the last batter he faced to end the top of the sixth inning the Foresters rallied against Hansen in the bottom of the sixth, getting their first two batters on base when Jones singled and the next batter was hit by a pitch, and took back the lead when Hansen fielded a sacrifice bunt and threw the attempted force out at third base out in the left field corner that allowed both runners to score and the batter to get all the way to third base with no outs. Ian Villers (Cal) entered the game at this point in relief of Hansen and, after issuing two walks that loaded the bases and striking out one batter, Franklin hit an RBI-single and Hall hit a sacrifice fly to put Santa Barbara up 8-5. Jacob Burton (Arkansas) pitched the seventh inning scoreless for the Foresters, retiring three of the four batters he faced, Clayton Beeter (Texas Tech) threw a scoreless eighth, pitching around the second hits of the game for Cam Blake (Texas A&M) and Langer, and a walk that loaded the bases with one out by striking out one batter and getting the third out on a flyball to escape unscathed, and Elijah Trest (Arkansas) retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth to close the Foresters win. Spencer Hynes (Houston) finished the first game on the mound for Healdsburg, striking out two in a scoreless eighth.

Click here for the boxscore of this game

Bryan Sturges (UT San Antonio) hit an RBI-single and David Langer (UConn) and Connor Mack (Cal) followed with a two-run double and an RBI-single, respectively, in a four-run eighth inning rally that broke a 5-5 tie and propelled Healdsburg to a third and decisive championship game tomorrow. Sturges’ hit that broke the tie was setup when Joe Lampe (UC Davis) and Bryson Hill (Houston) both singled to lead off the inning and a fielder’s choice put runners on first and third with one out. Sturges hit a hard groundball into left field to put the Packers up by one and runners on first and second. Then, after the second out of the inning was recorded, Langer hit his double and Mack singled in the fourth run. Santa Barbara led briefly in this game, scoring once in the second inning when Quentin Selma (Cal) singled and two batters walked in front of an Eric Kennedy (Texas) sacrifice fly. But Healdsburg answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second, scoring after Mack and Lampe hit their first of two singles of the game and three walks forced in two to give the Packers the lead. They added to their lead in their next at bat, again taking advantage of three walks, all of whom scored when a hit batter forced in one run and Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara) hit the second of his three hits in the game to drive in two and give Healdsburg a 5-1 lead. All five runs were charged to Foresters’ starting pitcher Brooks Fuller (Auburn) who struggled to find the strike zone consistently, walking seven and hitting one batter over two and third innings, while striking out three. Healdsburg’s starting pitcher Elijah Birdsong (Pacific) had mixed results early as well, walking three in his first two innings of work, but he righted things and ended up striking out eight over five and third innings. The Foresters did score off of Birdsong, however, scoring once in the fourth inning when Tevin Tucker (West Virginia) and Ryan Cash (Oral Roberts) hit one-out singles and Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) hit a two-out RBI-single, and twice in the sixth when Birdsong surrendered a leadoff double to Selma and a one-out RBI-double to Cash before Michael Clark (Cal Poly) entered the game in relief and retired the two batters he faced in the inning, but allowed the second run score on a wild pitch to get the Foresters within one, 5-4. Clark retired the side in order in the seventh before Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) singled to lead off the eighth, advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored when the next batter, Selma, singled for his third hit of the game to tie the score and put the potential go-ahead run on base with no outs. After a sacrifice advanced the runner into scoring position, an error put runners on first and third but Clark got a pop-out to short centerfield that was not deep enough to score the runner from third and retired the last hitter on another fly-out to centerfield to limit the damage and setup the four-run Healdsburg rally in their next at bat. Devin Kirby pitched around a two-out error and struck out one to close out the win with a scoreless ninth inning. Christian Winston (San Diego State) was the first reliever utilized in this game for the Foresters, entering the game with the bases loaded and one out in third inning in relief of Fuller and, after striking out the first batter he faced, surrendered Dicochea’s single that plated two runs that were charged to Fuller. Winston went on to retired ten of the next twelve batters he faced and struck out five over three and two-thirds innings before Connor Woods (UNLV) took over to start the seventh and struck two of the three batters he faced in the inning before giving up the four Packers runs in the eighth. Caden Monke (Arkansas) got the final out of the eighth inning in relief of Woods, but not before surrendering Mack’s single that plated the fourth run charged to Woods.

Click here for the boxscore of this game

The CCL State Championship Game begins tomorrow at Sparky Anderson Field at noon.

July 25, 2019

Healdsburg, CA

John Lagattuta (Cal) homered for the second consecutive game, singled and drove in four runs, and Bryan Sturges (UT San Antonio) doubled and drove in two runs to lead the Healdsburg Prune Packers to an 8-4 win over the Lincoln Potters tonight at Recreation Park, giving the Packers the championship of the CCL Affiliates Division and a berth to the 2019 California State Championship Saturday at Sparky Anderson Field in Thousand Oaks. Lagattuta’s home run came with two outs in the second inning with Healdsburg trailing 3-0, after Lincoln scored once in their first at bat when Lorenzo Debrecht (Sierra JC) led off the game with a home run, and twice in the top of the second inning when Parker Kelly (Texas Tech) hit a two-run home run. Two batters walked with two outs to set up Lagattuta’s home run that tied the score and, in his next at bat in the fourth inning, Lagattuta put Healdsburg in front when his single drove in Connor Mack (Cal), who had doubled right before his hit. Three batters later Lagattuta scored on a Sturges sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3. Morgan White (Portand) was the starting pitcher for the Packers and went two innings, allowing the two early home runs while striking out two. Michael Clark (Cal Poly) was the first reliever into the game, starting the third inning in relief of White, and worked around a two-out double by Isaiah Garcia (Cal St Fullerton) to pitch that inning scoreless, pitched around a walk in a scoreless fourth before allowing a run in the fifth when Charles Middleton hit Lincoln’s third home run of the game to make the score 5-4. That was as close as the Potters would get as Randy Polonia (UConn), Trey Garlett (Texas Tech) and Devin Kirby shutout Lincoln the rest of the way. Polonia pitched out of a sticky when a walk and two singles loaded the bases with out for the Potters in the sixth inning, but Polonia got a flyout and a groundout to escape unscathed. He then retired the first two batters of the seventh before Garlett came on to retire the third out in the seventh and the first out of the eighth, allowing a single and a hit batter before Kirby took over. Kirby was on the mound when Sturges picked the runner off second base from his catcher’s position for the second out of the eighth and Kirby struck out the last batter of that inning and then retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out the last two batters of the game, to secure the championship for Healdsburg. Jakob Frederick (San Joaquin JC) started on the mound for Lincoln and suffered the loss, allowing five runs on four hits while striking out one over three innings. Tyler Mead (Biola) pitched three scoreless innings for the Potters in relief of Frederick, striking out two, before Healdsburg added their last three runs, scoring once in the seventh inning on Mack’s RBI-groundout and two in the eighth when Sturges hit an RBI-double and scored later on a passed ball. The win qualified Healdsburg for a berth in the state championship set to begin Saturday in Thousand Oaks. The Packers will play the winner of the CCL Championship game between the Santa Barbara Foresters and Arroyo Seco Saints tomorrow at 4:30pm, also in Thousand Oaks.

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Thousand Oaks, CA

Anthony Forte (Richmond) cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run double in the fifth inning and drove in two runs with a double in his next at bat in the seventh, Pete Derkay (Tennessee) and Drew Cowley (Cal Pomona) each hit RBI-doubles and Morgan Allen (St. Edward’s) hit a two-out, two-run single to lead the Arroyo Seco Saints to a 12-7 win over the Orange County Riptide in the elimination game of the CCL playoffs today at Sparky Anderson Field. With the win, the number three seeded Saints advance to the CCL Championship Game tomorrow when they will meet the number one seeded Santa Barbara Foresters in a winner-take-all game to determine the league champion for 2019. Forte’s first double broke open what had been a close 5-3 game. His hit to the wall in the right-center gap drove in three runners after Thomas McCarthy (San Francisco) singled and Christian Scott (Tennessee) walked with two outs to load the bases after a batter reached base on a fielder’s choice. Forte scored the Saints fourth run of the fifth after advancing to third on an Allen single and coming home when Allen was picked off of first base but stayed in a rundown long enough for Forte to give Arroyo Seco a 9-3 lead. Both teams had scoring opportunities in every inning early in this game with the Saints scoring three unearned runs in their first at bat when a two-out walk and an error put two runners on board in front of Derkay’s double and Derkay scoring on a Jayson Gonzales (Vanderbilt) RBI-single, only to have the Riptide score twice in their first at bat on three consecutive hits to leadoff the bottom of the first inning, including a two-run double by Dylan Rock (UT San Antonio). The Saints scored twice more in the second inning on three hits, including Allen’s two-run single, and Orange County scored once in their half of the inning when Daniel Jung (Notre Dame) walked, advanced on a Carson Matthews (BYU) single and scored on a sacrifice fly. Both teams’ starting pitchers had a tough time getting outs in this game. Devin Sutorius (Biola) started for the Riptide and lasted only two innings while Cade Bullinger (Texas State) went two-plus, allowing two singles to leadoff the third inning before Eli Riechmann (Blinn) came on to strand the two runners by retiring three straight batters, including a sparkling diving grab by Allen at second base on a hard-hit line-drive by Jung for the first out of the third that changed the complexion of the inning, if not the game. Riechmann would go on to pitch two more scoreless innings before a walk and a Max Ferguson (Tennessee) home run in the sixth inning got Orange County closer 9-5. But, after two one-out walks, Forte took back the momentum for the Saints when he hit another line drive double into the right center gap to score two and did it one better when Cowley drove him in one out later with his double. Isaiah Ramos (Antelope Valley) started the seventh inning in relief of Riechmann and retired the side in order to pitch that inning scoreless before allowing two runs in the eighth when Matthews doubled and scored on a Chad Crosbie (Miami) pinch-hit home run to post the final 12-7 score. The game was called at the end of eight innings because of darkness and CCL Commissioner Pat Burns declared it an official game, deciding it was not in the teams’ best interests to regroup overnight and travel to a field that has not been reserved to complete the last inning of today’s game and then regroup again to meet the Foresters in the championship game. The Saints will meet Santa Barbara 4pm tomorrow at Sparky Anderson Field.

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The CCL Playoffs continue tomorrow at Sparky Anderson Field on the campus of Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Tomorrow the No. 3 seeded Arroyo Seco Saints will meet the No. 1 seeded Santa Barbara Foresters in a winner-take-all championship game. Game time is 4:30pm. The winner of the Affiliate Division Playoffs, Healdsburg Prune Packers, will meet the CCL Champion in a best-of-three California State Championship set to begin Saturday at Sparky Anderson Field at 12pm.

July 23, 2019

The CCL Playoffs and Affiliate Division Playoffs get underway tomorrow with the first game of a best-of-three series between the No. 2 seeded Lincoln Potters and the No. 1 seeded Healdsburg Prune Packers at Recreation Park in Healdsburg. Game time is 6pm. The CCL Playoffs begin Thursday at Sparky Anderson Field on the campus of Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks with a three-team single elimination tournament. The No. 3 seeded Arroyo Seco Saints will meet the No. 2 seeded Orange County Riptide in an elimination game, the winner of which will meet the No. 1 seeded Santa Barbara Foresters on Friday in a winner-take-all championship game. Game times are 4:30pm. The winner of the Affiliate Division Playoffs will then meet the CCL Champion in a best-of-three California State Championship set to begin Saturday at Sparky Anderson Field at 4pm.

Other news around the CCL today:

Pasadena, CA

Christian Franklin (Arkansas) hit a pair of home runs, driving in three, Eric Kennedy (Texas) doubled to finish the regular season with a .400 batting average, good for a CCL batting title, and Brad Demco pitched two innings of scoreless relief to finish the regular season with a CCL best .000 ERA to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 7-3 win over the Arroyo Seco Saints tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Franklin’s first home run came in the first inning, driving in Kennedy, who had led off the game with his double, to put the Foresters up 2-0. His second home run led off the seventh inning and sparked a three-run rally that included an RBI-single by Quentin Selma (Cal), posting the final score. Demco was the second reliever into the game for Santa Barbara, starting the sixth inning in relief of Connor Woods (UNLV). Demco struck out five in two hitless innings, giving him 35 for the season, good enough to win the CCL strikeout king crown for 2019. Caden Monke (Arkansas) started on the mound in this game for the Foresters and went three innings, striking out three, allowing three hits and surrendering all three Saints runs, one in the first inning when Nikolas Pagan (Hartford) hit an RBI-single, and two in the third when a run producing groundout and a sacrifice fly plate the last runs of the game for the Saints. Woods picked up the win in relief of Monke, throwing two scoreless innings in which he retired all six batters he faced, three by strikeout. The Foresters took over the lead for good in the fourth inning when Connor Pavolony (Tennessee) singled to lead off the inning, Tevin Tucker (West Virginia) followed him with a double and both scored, Pavolony on a RBI-groundout and Tucker on a sacrifice fly. All seven Santa Barbara runs were charged to Saints starting pitcher Grant Young (San Francisco), who allowed seven runs on seven hits while striking out two and pitched into the seventh inning before Justin Kleinsorge came in with no outs and two runners on in that inning. Kleinsorge faced only three batters in the seventh, but Selma’s hit and an RBI-groundout produced the last two Santa Barbara runs. Trevor Davis (Cornell) and Race Gardner (Hawaii-Hilo) pitched the last two innings for the Saints, Davis retiring three straight in the eighth inning, striking out two, and Gardner retiring three of four in the ninth to finish the game for Arroyo Seco. Jacob Burton (Arkansas) and Elijah Trest (Arkansas) each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to close out the win for the Foresters, each posting two strikeouts.

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Compton, CA

Carson Carter (Texas Tech) pitched four innings of one-hit, shutout baseball, striking out six, Nico Lima (Oxnard CC) hit a solo home run, Raul Sandoval (Oxnard CC) hit a pair of RBI-singles, and Ramon Gomez (Oklahoma Baptist) and Trent MacKinney each hit RBI-doubles to lead the Conejo Oaks to an 11-6 win over the Academy Barons tonight at the MLB Youth Academy. Carter hit two batters and gave up the lone single in his four-inning start but otherwise he was perfect. He retired the side in order in his first and last inning, had strikeouts in all four innings, and got plenty of run support. The Oaks scored four runs in their first at bat on four hits, including RBI-singles by Ryne Yamashiro (Cal Lutheran) and Sandoval, an RBI-groundout by Gabe Baldovino (Ventura JC) and an error. Conejo added to their lead in the second inning when Lima hit his home run, in the fifth when Gomez and MacKinney hit back-to-back RBI-doubles to plate two, and in the sixth when they rallied for four runs on three hits, including run scoring singles by Sandoval and Baldovino, and two RBI-groundouts to take an 11-0 lead. Aaron Suval (Glendale JC) was the first reliever into the game for the Oaks, starting the fifth inning in relief of Carter and, after pitching the fifth scoreless, surrendered the first two Academy runs when Trent Anderson doubled and scored on a Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky) single, and Lucio scored on an infield out. Peyton Ebel (Greensboro) relieved Suval to get the final out in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh before Clay Rickerman (Cal Lutheran) took over to start the eighth and allowed the Barons’ next three runs on a sacrifice fly and three hits, including Anderson’s second consecutive double, an RBI-triple by Kendall Ewell (Eastern Kentucky) and a run-scoring single by Marcus Johnson (Santa Ana JC). Marshall Denton (Arkansas) pitched the ninth for the Oaks and surrendered one run when Anderson got his fourth hit of the game, stole a base and scored on an error. The Academy utilized seven pitchers for their last game of the season, none throwing more than two innings and highlighted by JP Massey (Minnesota) who struck out the side in his one inning of work in the ninth.

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July 20, 2019
Healdsburg, CA

The Healdsburg Prune Packers crushed the Solano Mudcats 24-3 tonight at Recreation Park, collecting 20 hits, including a two-run home run by Bryan Sturges (UT San Antonio), and batting around three times in the game. The Packers scored in all but two of their at bats tonight while, in contrast, the Mudcats scored in only one inning, the sixth, when Justin Banks (Coppin State) hit a three-run home run to provide a highlight for Solano. Elijah Birdsong (Pacific), Chris Joaquim (UNLV) and Kenny Haus (UConn), the three pitchers used the game for Healdsburg, combined for 13 strikeouts, with Haus leading the way with eight over the last three innings. Haus, who entered the game to start the seventh inning in relief of Joaquim, struck out the first batter he faced, got a groundball out from the second and surrendered the lone baserunner of his outing when Wesley Galloway (Sterling), who had two of the Mudcats’ six hits, singled. Haus then struck out the last batter to end the seventh and struck out the next six batters in a row to end the game. Birdsong was the starting pitcher and retired the first nine batters he faced in order and pitched a pair of singles to hold Solano scoreless over four innings, striking out four. Joaquim started the fifth in relief of Birdsong and pitched that inning scoreless before issuing the three pitchers’ only walk of the game with one out and a two-out single before Banks hit his home run. Ten different Healdsburg players collected hits in this game, eight of whom had multiple-hit games. Joe Lampe (UC Davis) led all hitters with four RBI, followed by Sturges and Connor Mack (Cal), each of whom drove in three.

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Elsewhere around the CCL today:

Santa Barbara, CA

Trevor Beer (UC Santa Barbara) and Justin Kleinsorge (Regis) combined to hold the Santa Barbara Foresters to four hits, striking out seven and five, respectively, Morgan Allen (St. Edward’s) hit a three-run home run and Nikolas Pagan (Hartford) doubled and hit a solo home run to lead the Arroyo Seco Saints to a 6-2 win over the Foresters tonight at Pershing Park. Beer and Santa Barbara’s starting pitcher Luke Taggert (Incarnate Word) engaged in a pitchers duel early in this game, with Taggert winning by pitching four perfect innings, retiring all twelve batters he faced in order, six by strikeout. Beer, who surrendered one run in his first inning when Eric Kennedy (Texas) led off with a double and scored on a double-play groundball, ultimately prevailed, however, earning the win after pitching the next four innings scoreless when Allen hit his home run in the sixth inning to give him a 3-1 lead. Beer did surrender Santa Barbara’s second run in the bottom of the sixth when Ross Cadena (Wichita State) hit a solo home run, but he struck out the last two batters he faced to hold the Saints in front and turned the pitching duties over to Kleinsorge. Kleinsorge retired all nine batters he faced in order to close out the win and struck out the last four batters he faced. Arroyo Seco padded their lead when Pagan his his home run to leadoff the seventh inning, and they scored twice more in their last at bat when Pagan doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly, and Nolan Tressler (Georgia Southern) singled and scored on a Matt Thomas (Harvard) RBI-single. Kevin Larson (Fresno State) was the first reliever into the game for the Foresters, starting the fifth inning in relief of Taggert and suffered the loss, allowing three runs on two hits while striking out four over two innings. Elijah Trest (Arkansas) pitched one inning and surrendered Pagan’s home run while striking out two, Jacob Burton (Arkansas) pitched an inning and two-thirds, allowing both of the Saints’ ninth inning runs before Brad Demco came in to strikeout the only batter he faced.

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Compton, CA

Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) hit a two-run home run and an RBI-single, and Trey Lipscomb (Tennessee) had three hits, scored two runs, drove in a run and pitched an inning and a third to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 9-4 win over the Academy Barons tonight at the MLB Youth Academy. Peabody’s home run and single came late in the game, in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, when Orange County broke open a one-run game. His home run drove in Carson Matthews (BYU), who had reached base safely on an error to leadoff the seventh inning, and his single drove in Matthews who had doubled with two outs in the eighth. Peabody also scored the first run of the game for the Riptide in the third inning when, trailing 1-0, he reached base on an error, stole a base and scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the score. The tie didn’t last very long as three of the next four batters after Peabody also scored, driven in by a Lipscomb two-out single and a two-RBI single by Daniel Jung (Notre Dame). The four-run rally made a winner of Riptide starting pitcher Wes Engle (Texas State) who allowed the Barons first run in the first inning when Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky) doubled and scored, and a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning when Allante Hall hit an RBI-double and a groundout generated one run. Other than that, Engle retired the side in order in both the second and fourth innings, and pitched around a pair of walks in the fifth to leave the game with a 4-3 lead. Justin Lewis (Texas Tech) came on to hold the Barons scoreless over the next two and two-thirds innings, retiring eight of the nine batters he faced and allowing only one walk before Lipscomb relieved him to retire the last batter of the eighth inning and pitch the ninth, surrendering the last Academy run when the leadoff batter walked, advanced a base on each of the next two outs and scored on a wild pitch. Noah Owen was the starting pitcher for the Barons and suffered the loss, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out three over four innings. Josh Landry (Cypress JC) struck out four in three innings of relief of Owen, allowing two runs on two hits, Trevor Sutt (Long Beach CC) allowed the last three Riptide runs in the eighth before Sean Paquet (LMU) came on to strikeout the last batter of the eighth and all three batters he faced in the ninth to finish the game for the Academy.

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San Luis Obispo, CA

Gerry Ramirez pitched seven shutout innings and Clay Rickerman (Cal Lutheran) pitched two to lead the Conejo Oaks to a 7-0 shutout of the San Luis Obispo Blues today at Sinsheimer Park. Ramirez scattered five hits, walked one and hit one batter to hold the Blues scoreless. He retired the side in order in the first, fourth and last inning of his outing and allowed only one batter, Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts), who had two of the five Blues singles in the game, to reach third base. Rickerman was perfect in his two innings of relief of Ramirez, retiring all six batters he faced, three by strikeout. Offensively, the Oaks scored one unearned run in the second inning, one in the fourth when Aaron Suval (Glendale JC) hit a two-out RBI-double and five in the seventh when they blew the game open on RBI-singles by Jacob Castro (UC Irvine), Raul Sandoval (Oxnard JC) and Tyler Odekirk (Cal State LA). Andrew Alvarez (Cal Poly) started on the mound for San Luis and suffered the loss, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out six over six innings. Kai Janowicz (UC Davis) pitched one inning in relief of Alvarez and surrendered the Oaks five-run rally in the seventh inning before Gabe Constantine (Rio Grande Valley) took over and pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game for the Blues.

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July 18, 2019
Compton, CA

Cade Bullinger (Texas State) struck out eight over a seven-inning start, Jayson Gonzales (Vanderbilt) had three hits, including a two-run home run, and Thomas Luevano (San Diego) singled and hit a solo home run to lead the Arroyo Seco Saints to a 9-2 win over the Academy Barons tonight at the MLB Youth Academy. The win, combined with the Conejo Oaks’ loss today to the Orange County Riptide, clinched the Saints the third and final berth for the CCL Playoffs July 25-26 in Thousand Oaks. Bullinger scattered five hits and walked only one in his seven innings. He retired three straight batters in three of his innings, retired three of four in three innings and did not allow a run until the seventh when Logan Pollack (Michigan) hit a one-out double and scored on a Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky) single. By the time Bullinger’s start was complete the Saints held a 7-1 lead. Luevano singled and scored the first run of the game in the first inning on a run-producing groundout. Christian Scott (Tennessee) doubled home a run in the second inning and picked up an RBI in the sixth when he walked with the bases loaded, and the Saints scored four times in the seventh when Pete Derkay (Tennessee) hit an RBI-double in between Luevano and Gonzales’ home runs. Chris Burnette (Cal Poly Pomona) was the first reliever into the game for the Saints, starting the eighth inning in relief of Bullinger, retiring three of the four batters he faced and surrendered the Barons’ second run of the game when Basiel Williams Jr. (Jones JC) hit a home run. Trevor Beer (UC Santa Barbara) retired three straight in the ninth to secure the win. Elijah Pleasants (Tennessee) started on the mound for the Academy and suffered the loss, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out seven over six innings. Travis Lavendier (Chico State) was on the mound when the Saints rallied for four runs in the seventh and struck out two in the inning before JP Massey (Minnesota) came on to pitch the last two innings for the Barons, allowing a run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly and a run in the ninth when Scott picked up his third RBI of the game after hitting a run producing groundout.

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Elsewhere around the CCL today:

Irvine, CA

Trey Lipscomb (Tennessee) hit a two-run double and Antonio Cruz (Rice) hit a run-scoring single to highlight a four-run fifth inning and lead the Orange County Riptide to a 5-4 win over the Conejo Oaks today at Great Park Stadium. The Oaks’ loss, paired with the win by the Arroyo Seco Saints today at the MLB Youth Academy, eliminated the Oaks from the CCL Playoffs and finalized the three-team playoff field. The game was tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning when Lipscomb hit his double, driving in Carson Matthews (BYU), who had walked, and Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) who had singled. Dylan Rock (UT San Antonio) followed Lipscomb’s double with a single and, after a walk loaded the bases, a run-producing groundout and a Cruz RBI-single gave Orange County a 5-1 lead. Devin Sutorius (Biola) was the starting pitcher today for the Riptide, pitching around two singles to throw a scoreless first inning and retired the side in order in the second before allowing the Oaks’ first run of the game in the third when Nico Lima (Oxnard CC) hit the second of his four singles in the game with two outs in the inning and scored when Jacob Castro (UC Irvine) singled. Sutorius struck out the last batter of the third inning to avoid further damage and then retired nine of the next ten batters he faced to earn the win. Noah Mattera (UNLV) started on the mound for Conejo and, like Sutorius, pitched two scoreless innings before allowing one run in the third inning when an error, a stolen base, a Peabody single and a first-and-third double steal plated the first Riptide run. Mattera pitched a scoreless fourth inning before Chris Torres (Moorpark CC) entered the game to start the fifth and surrendered the Riptide four-run rally to suffer the loss. Justin Lewis (Texas Tech) was the first reliever into the game for Orange County, starting the seventh inning in relief of Sutorius, allowing one run in that inning when Will Picketts (Tennessee) doubled, stole third base and scored on a wild pitch, and allowed a run in the eighth when Lima led off the inning with his fourth hit of the game and scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3. Andrew Davis pitched to one batter in the eighth in relief of Lewis, striking out the only batter he faced to end the inning, and Tanner King pitched the ninth, allowing one run when Ramon Gomez (Oklahoma Baptist) hit a leadoff double and scored one out later on an error. King then walked the next batter to put both the potential tying and potential go-ahead run on base with one out and, after striking out the next batter and walking another to load the bases, retired the last batter of the game on a fly out to close out the win. Kyle Nicol (Cal Poly) pitched the last three innings scoreless for the Oaks, striking out two and allowing one hit.

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Lincoln, CA

Morgan White (Portland) and three relievers outdueled Jakob Frederick (San Joaquin JC) and four relievers to lead the Healdsburg Prune Packers to a 3-1 win over the Lincoln Potters tonight at McBean Stadium. White started on the mound for Healdsburg and struck out three over four innings, surrendering two hits and one run when Isaiah Garcia (Cal St Fullerton) hit a two-out RBI-single in the third inning. Frederick also pitched four innings in his start for Lincoln, striking out five, but gave up five hits and three runs. Healdsburg got on the board in their first at bat when Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara) walked, advanced to third on a two-out single by Cam Blake (Texas A&M) and scored on an error, and took the lead in the fourth when Blake led off with his second single of the game and scored on a David Langer (UConn) one-out single. Three batters later the Packers added an insurance run they would not need when Cal Conley (Texas Tech) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The 3-1 score would stand for the rest of the game as the two teams’ bullpens each pitched five shutout innings. Randy Polonia (UConn) pitched two innings while striking out three, Noah Rennard pitched an inning and two-thirds, and Devin Kirby pitched an inning and a third for Healdsburg. Eli Garcia struck out five over two innings in relief of Frederick, and Brian Martinez (Cal St Easy Bay), Travis Parker (Utah Valley) and Blake Hearn (Sierra JC) eached pitched a scoreless inning for Lincoln.

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San Luis Obispo, CA

Clayton Beeter (Texas Tech) struck out seven over three innings of relief, Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) hit a single and a two-run home run, and Dru Baker (Texas Tech) and Tevin Tucker (West Virginia) each hit two-run triples to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to an 11-7 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues tonight at Sinsheimer Park. Beeter was the third pitcher used in the game for the Foresters, entering to start the sixth inning in relief of Christian Winston (San Diego State) with the Blues leading 7-5. Beeter struck out the first two batters he faced before Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) hit a single for the only hit Beeter surrendered. Beeter then struck out two to pitch around a hit batter in the seventh and struck out the side in the eighth before Hunter Breault (Oregon) came in to pitch a shutdown ninth, striking out the last two batters of the game to hold San Luis scoreless while Santa Barbara took over the lead and gave Beeter the win. The Foresters took the lead in the eighth inning, scoring four runs on four hits, including an RBI-single by Ryan Cash (Oral Roberts) and a two-run single by Eric Kennedy (Texas). They added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth when Tucker hit his triple. The Blues and Foresters traded holding the lead early in this game, San Luis going first. The Blues scored once in their first at bat when Swift reach base on an error, advanced to third on another error and scored on a run-producing groundout and, after Santa Barbara scored three times in the second inning on four hits, including Baker’s triple and an RBI-single by Tucker, San Luis scored five times in their half of the inning to take the lead again 6-3. The Blues rapped out two doubles and four singles in their second inning rally, getting an RBI-double by TJ Rumfield (Texas Tech), a two-run single by Julian Bury (Columbia), an RBI-single by Ruben Mercado (San Jose St) and a run-producing groundout to generate the five runs. Jones hit his home run in the third inning to get the Foresters to within one, but San Luis increased their lead to 7-5 in the fifth when Taison Corio (Delta JC) singled and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly. The next inning Beeter came in to pitch for the Foresters and the game changed in favor of the Foresters from there. Jake Jackson (Nevada) started on the mound for Santa Barbara and allowed six runs on six hits while striking out three over two innings before Winston came in to start the third inning and went on to allow one run on three hits while striking out two in three innings of work. Connor Wilford was the starting pitcher for San Luis, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out two over four innings of work, followed by Tyler Chivens who was impressive early in his outing. Chivens struck out eight in three and a third innings, pitching a scoreless fifth inning with one strikeout, striking out three to pitch around an error in the sixth and striking out three to pitch around two errors in the seventh before the Foresters rallied for their four runs in the eighth that saddled Chivens with the loss. Evan Ingram (Hendrix) entered the game with one out in the eighth inning in relief of Chivens and struck out the only two batters he faced in that inning before allowing a leadoff single in the ninth and was replaced by Brett Super (Pitzer) who finished on the mound for the Blues.

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July 16, 2019
Compton, CA

The Academy Barons rode a six-run first inning to snap a nine-game losing streak and beat the Santa Barbara Foresters 7-6 tonight at the MLB Youth Academy to snap the Foresters seven-game winning streak. The Barons scored six runs on four hits in their first at bat, including an RBI-single by Channy Ortiz (Grand Canyon), an RBI-double by Kendall Pettis (Oklahoma) and a bases-clearing three-run double by Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky). All six runs were surrendered by Santa Barbara starting pitcher Cole Quintanilla (Texas) who, along with relievers Connor Woods (UNLV), Nico O’Donnell (Texas) and Brock Helverson (West Virginia), completely shutdown the Barons from that point forward, allowing only two hits the last eight innings. The Barons’ starting pitcher, Noel Soto (Long Beach CC), took the six runs of support and cruised through the first three and two-thirds inning, surrendering only one hit and one unearned run when a hit batter, a single and an error plated the first Santa Barbara run in the second inning. But with two outs in the fourth inning Soto ran into trouble when a walk, a wild pitch and four Foresters hits, including a two-run double by Tevin Tucker (West Virginia) and an RBI-single by Dru Baker (Texas Tech), generated four runs to make it a one-run game, 6-5. The Academy upped their lead to two by scoring a run in their half of the fourth inning without the benefit of a hit after an error, a walk and a passed ball put a runner on third base and a sacrifice fly scored a run. Soto finished his start by pitching a scoreless fifth inning, striking out two, and got the first two outs in the sixth before a pair of two-out singles signaled a pitching change. Brandon Mitchell (New Orleans) came in to pitch in relief of Soto and struck out the only batter he faced in the sixth to strand two baserunners, and then pitched a scoreless seventh before Travis Lavendier (Chico State) came on to pitch the eighth. Lavendier got one out in between issuing two walks that put the tying runs on base, then Sean Paquet (LMU) entered the game and, after allowing a sacrifice fly for the second out that made it a one-run game, struck out the last batter he faced in the eighth inning before striking out all three he faced in the ninth to close out the Barons’ win.

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Thousand Oaks, CA

Carson Carter (Texas Tech), Guillermo Pinedo (Glendale JC) and Clay Rickerman (Cal Lutheran) combined to scatter seven hits and allow only one run, Raul Sandoval (Oxnard CC) had three hits and drove in two runs and Will Picketts (Cal St Bakersfield) drove in two runs on a pair of RBI-singles to lead the Conejo Oaks to a 4-1 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues today at Sparky Anderson Field. Carter started on the mound for Conejo today and threw five shutout innings. He faced the minimum nine batters through three innings, assisted by a runner caught stealing and another runner being erased as part of a double play, one over the minimum through four innings and pitched out of a bases loaded situation in the fifth by striking out the last batter he faced. By the time Carter’s start was complete, the Oaks had posted a 3-0 lead. Conejo scored once in their first at bat when Nico Lima (Oxnard CC) hit a leadoff single and scored when Sandoval hit a two-out double, once in the second when Picketts hit a two-out RBI-single, and once more in the third when Sandoval hit a two-out RBI-single to again drive in Lima who had singled. Pinedo took over for Carter to start the sixth inning and faced the minimum six batters through his first two innings, assisted by a batter being thrown out at second base trying to extend a single into a double, before surrendering the Blues’ only run of the game in the eighth inning when Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) hit an RBI-single. Rickerman then retired the side in order in the ninth, assisted by a double play that erased a batter that had reached base safely on a single, to close out the Oaks’ win. Gabe Constantine (Rio Grande Valley) started on the mound for San Luis and surrendered the first three Oaks runs to suffer the loss, allowing five hits and striking out one over four innings of work. Dylan Beavers (Cal) came into the game in relief of Constantine to start the fifth inning and struck out five over three innings, allowing one run when Picketts got his second RBI-single of the game in the sixth inning. Evan Ingram (Hendrix) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to finish on the mound for the Blues.

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Irvine, CA

Hayden Harris (Georgia Southern) struck out nine in a seven-inning start, Drew Atherton (Cal Poly Pomona) struck out four in two innings of shutout relief, Drew Cowley (Cal Poly Pomona) tripled, doubled, singled and drove in four runs, and Christian Scott (Tennessee) had three hits, including a solo home run, and two RBI to lead the Arroyo Seco Saints to an 11-1 rout of the Orange County Riptide today at Great Park Stadium. Harris allowed the Riptide’s run after only two batters into his start, surrendering a leadoff triple to Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) and a single to Connor Aoki (Binghamton). He surrendered a third consecutive hit to start his outing to Dylan Rock (UT San Antonio), but then he and Atherton started putting up zeros. Harris stranded two runners on base in the first inning by retiring the next three batters after Rock’s single, two of them by strikeout, stranded two more in the second before facing the minimum three batters in the third and fourth innings, one over the minimum in the fifth and sixth innings and retired the side in order in the seventh, striking out two in his last inning to finish with nine overall. Atherton then retired six of the seven batters he faced, pitching around an error that allowed his only baserunner with two outs in the eighth, to close out the Saints win by striking out the last two batters of the game. Cowley generated four of the first five Arroyo Seco runs of the game with an RBI-single in the first inning and a bases-clearing three-run triple in the fifth that followed an RBI-single by Thomas Luevano (San Diego) and preceded a sacrifice fly that gave the Saints a 6-1 lead. Scott, who had singled earlier in the game, hit his home run in the eighth inning and hit an RBI-single in the ninth as part of four-run Saints rally that included an two-run double by Evan Russell (Tennessee) and a sacrifice fly that posted the final 11-1 score. Tyler Booth was the starting pitcher for Orange County and suffered the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits while striking out four over five innings of work. Noah Walker (Texas St) struck out seven over three innings in relief of Booth, and allowed two runs on six hits before Michael Defelippi (Pacific) pitched the last inning and allowed three runs on three hits.

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Alameda, CA

The San Francisco Seals rallied for four runs in their last at bat, highlighted by a Robert Lujan (Cal St East Bay) two-run double, a two-out RBI-single by Drew Lowe (Oral Roberts) and a walk off, two-out RBI-single by Alex Schmitz (Oral Roberts) to beat the Solano Mudcats 7-6 today at Alameda College. Trailing 6-3 heading into the ninth the Seals got their first two batters of the inning on base safely via a walk and a single. Then, after a strikeout, Lujan plated both runners with his double and, after a ground ball out for the second out in the inning, Lowe drove in Lujan with the tying run and Lowe scored from first base on Schmitz’ game-winner. The rally gave Koh Maeda the win. Maeda pitched the last five innings of the game in relief of starter Ricky Hernandez and allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out five. Maeda allowed all three of his runs in his first inning, which started when he entered the game in the middle of the fifth inning after Hernandez allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base safely on a walk and a single. After striking out the first batter he faced, Maeda hit a batter, walked one and surrendered three RBI-singles to Eric Robles (Sterling), Justin Banks (Coppin State) and Christian Harkey (Savannah State) before inducing a groundball double play to end the rally. From then on, however, Maeda was tough to score upon. He retired the side in order in the sixth, pitched around two singles in the seventh, pitched around an error in the eighth and pitched around a pair of two-out singles in the ninth to hold Solano scoreless over the last four innings and allow the walk off rally to be possible. Hernandez was equally tough to score upon earlier, stranding runners in each of his first two innings before a single, a walk, an error and a sacrifice fly plated the first Solano run in the third inning. He then retired the side in order in the fifth before being pulled after two batters in the fifth when the Mudcats rally was developing. Nik Dodson was the starting pitcher today for Solano and despite giving up five singles through his first three innings he held the Seals scoreless until Coby Eckstein hit a home run to lead off the fourth inning to tie the score and, two outs later, Flynn Morrison (Redwoods JC) hit an RBI-triple that gave the Seals a 2-1 lead. Christian Harkey (Savannah State) was the first reliever in for the Mudcats, starting the fifth inning in relief of Dodson and striking out four over two scoreless innings before James Harwell (Sonoma State) came on the pitch the seventh and surrendered the Seals second run unearned when Matt Monahan (Saint Xavier) doubled and scored on an error. Banks pitched the eighth inning scoreless, striking out two before Wellington Balsley (Solano JC) came on to pitch the fateful ninth, allowing four runs on four hits to suffer the loss.

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The Seals played an earlier game today at Alameda College, losing to the Lincoln Potters 14-1. Ian Miller (Yakima Valley JC) struck out eight over a six-inning start and Keith Walker (Yuba JC) struck out three over three innings of relief to hold San Francisco to their one run while Zach Bushling hit a three-run home run and an RBI-double, Matt Lopez drove in three runs with a pair of RBI-singles and Tanner O’Tremba (Texas Tech) and Jordyn Berry (Cochise JC) each posted three-hit games to lead the Lincoln offense that collected 17 hits. Stats for this game were not available at post time and will be included in the CCL leader boards when they are received.

July 13, 2019
Thousand Oaks, CA

Dylan Rock (San Antonio) hit a solo home run and drove in three runs, Mike Peabody (UC Irvine) had three hits and three RBI, and five pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 10-5 win over the Conejo Oaks today at Sparky Anderson Field. Rock’s home run came in the sixth inning and gave the Riptide a 7-2 lead. He had generated the first run of the game when his first inning groundout scored Max Ferguson (Tennessee), who had tripled, and he added an RBI-single in a four-run Orange County rally in the third inning, which also featured Peabody’s first hit of the game, a one-run single, and a two-run single by Andre Antone (UC Irvine). The Riptide added their fifth run when Joshua Solomon (Columbia) doubled, advanced to third on Peabody’s second consecutive single and scored on an error in the fourth inning, and their sixth on a Chad Crosbie (Miami) RBI-single in the fifth. Wes Engle (Texas State) started on the mound for Orange County and struck out five over his four innings of work, allowing two runs in the first inning without surrendering a hit when Gabe Baldovino (Ventura JC) reached base on a dropped third strike with one out, stole second base and, after a walk to the next batter Steele Ledford (UC Santa Barbara), he and then Ledford both advanced and scored on three passed balls. Engle did surrender two hits over the next three innings, but those were the only baserunners he allowed, retiring eleven of the last 13 batters he faced. Chase Lyford was the first reliever in for the Riptide, starting the fifth in relief of Engle and retiring six of the seven batters he faced over two innings, striking out two and surrendering one hit, a home run by Ledford in the sixth. Andrew Davis started the seventh inning but ran into trouble, allowing one hit, three walks and one run, and was charged with a second run when Michael Defelippi (Pacific) relieved him with two outs in the inning, the bases loaded and the batter he struck out reached first base on a dropped third strike to force in a run and make the score 8-5. Peabody hit a two-run double in the top of the eighth inning to post the final score while Defelippi, who had retired the last out of the seventh on a fly ball to escape further damage, retired the side in order in the eighth before Noah Walker (Texas State) came in to retire three straight in the ninth, two by strikeout, to close out the win. Gerry Ramirez was the starting pitcher for Conejo and suffered the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits over three innings.

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Santa Barbara, CA

Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) hit a solo home run and an RBI-double, Conor McKenna (Oklahoma) had three hits and three RBI, and Ryan Bergert (West Virginia) and five relievers combined to strike out 15 batters to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 6-4 win over the Arroyo Seco Saints tonight at Pershing Park. Bellafronto’s home run came in the seventh inning and was the final run of the game tonight, and his double in the third inning, which drove in Eric Kennedy (Texas) who had tripled just before his at bat, broke a 2-2 tie that increased to a two-run lead when Bellafronto scored two outs later when Blake Hall (Oral Roberts) drove him in with a single. McKenna had driven in the first two Santa Barbara runs with a two-out single in the second and, after singling in his next at bat in a scoreless fourth inning, he drove in the team’s fifth run, again with two outs, with his third consecutive single in the sixth. Bergert was the starting pitcher tonight for Santa Barbara and struck out five over four innings of work, surrendering one run in the second inning when Nikolas Pagan (Hartford) walked, stole second base and scored on a Wyatt Stapp (Cincinnati) single, and one in the third when Pagan hit a two-out single to drive in another runner who had reached base on a walk. Caden Monke (Arkansas) relieved Bergert to start the fifth inning and pitched around a single and walk to throw one scoreless inning before Brock Helverson (West Virginia) pitched the sixth and surrendered two runs when a leadoff walk and a double by Matt Thomas (Harvard) put two runners in scoring position with no outs and, after Helverson struck out the next batter, Nolan Tressler (Georgia Southern) hit a two-run single that tied the game 4-4. Helverson retired the next two batters he faced, one via strikeout, to escape further damage and, after McKenna’s hit in the bottom of the sixth put Santa Barbara back up again, Connor Curry (Nebraska) pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts, Jacob Burton (Arkansas) pitched a scoreless eight with two strikeouts, and Elijah Trest (Arkansas) struck out the side in the ninth to close out the Foresters win. Grant Young (San Francisco) was the starting pitcher in this game for Arroyo Seco and suffered the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out three over six innings of work. Chris Burnette (Cal Poly Pomona) started the seventh inning in relief of Young and pitched the last two innings for the Saints, allowing one run on three hits while striking out three.

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San Luis Obispo, CA

The San Luis Obispo Blues swept a doubleheader against the Academy Barons today at Sinsheimer Park, winning both games by one run, 6-5 and 5-4.
San Luis rode a five-run second inning to victory in the first game, getting their first six batters of the inning on base safely on two walks, an error and three singles, including RBI-hits by Myles Emmerson (Cal Poly) and Ryan Cole (Notre Dame,) to generate the runs. The Blues needed every one of those runs because their starting pitcher, Andrew Alvarez (Cal Poly), who had cruised early, retiring the first eight batters he faced in order, ran into trouble with two outs in the third inning and issued four walks and RBI-singles by Logan Pollack (Michigan) and Benjamin Donerson (Dominguez Hills) that got the Barons to within one run, 5-4. Tyler Chivens relieved Alvarez after Donerson’s hit and, with the bases loaded and two outs, retired the next batter to keep San Luis out in front. The Blues increased their lead in the bottom of the third inning when Julian Bury (Columbia), who would also double in the game, hit an RBI-triple to make the score 6-4. All six San Luis’ runs were charged to Barons’ starting pitcher Elijah Pleasants (Tennessee), who surrendered six hits and struck out four over four innings before turning the pitching duties over to JP Massey (Minnesota), who pitched the last two innings scoreless for the Academy, striking out two and allowing two hits. Chivens finished the game on the mound for the Blues, striking out two over four and a third innings in this seven-inning front end of the doubleheader. He surrendered the fifth Barons run when he walked two and a two-base error allowed a run to score in the fourth inning, but then pitched the last three innings scoreless to close out the win.

Kai Janowicz (UC Davis), Brett Super (Pitzer), Mitchell Scott (Cal) and Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) combined to strikeout twelve, Brian Klein (Texas Tech) tripled and scored twice, and Reuben Mercado (San Jose St) hit a big, two-out, two-run single to lead the Blues to a 5-4 win over the Barons in the second game tonight. Janowicz struck out the first two batters of the game, struck out four overall in his four inning start, and didn’t give up a run until Maxwell Dias (New Orleans), who had three hits in this game, doubled to leadoff the fourth inning and scored four batters later on a fielder’s choice. Super relieved Janowicz to start the fifth and pitched the next three innings hitless and scoreless, striking out four and allowing two baserunners, one via a walk and the other by a hit batter. The game was tied 1-1 by the time Janowicz finished his outing, the Blues having scored once in the second inning when Klein led off the inning with his triple and scored on a run-producing groundout and, by the time Super was done, San Luis had taken the lead by scoring three times in the sixth when three walks loaded the bases in front of Mercado’s two-out two-run single and an error plated another run. The Barons got to within one run of the Blues in the top of the eighth inning, scoring twice off of Scott when Dias and Donerson hit consecutive one-out singles and Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky) doubled them both home, but San Luis added a run in their half of the inning when an error, a passed ball and a wild pitch made the score 4-2. Scott started the ninth inning for the Blues but after a walk and an RBI-double by Channy Ortiz (Grand Canyon) got the Academy to within one with the potential tying in scoring position, Swift came on to pitch for San Luis and struck out three of the next four batters he faced to close out the win. David Appleby (Michigan) was the starting pitcher for the Academy and suffered the loss, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out two over five and two-thirds innings. Yuji Sakane (East LA JC) was the first reliever in for the Barons and pitched two hitless innings with two strikeouts but was on the mound when San Luis scored in the eighth without the benefit of a hit. Noel Soto (Long Beach CC) walked one and struck out one to finish on the mound for the Barons.

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Lincoln, CA

The game between the Solano Mudcats and the Lincoln Potters was suspended tonight in the tenth inning with the score tied 8-8 due to a fireworks curfew at McBean Stadium. The game will be resumed at 5pm tomorrow prior to the previously scheduled game between the same two teams. Stats from the suspended game will be included in the CCL leaderboards upon the game’s completion tomorrow.