July 9, 2019
Irvine, CA
Tyler Booth pitched five shutout innings, retiring the first ten batters he faced in order, to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 5-3 win over the Academy Barons tonight at Great Park Stadium. Booth struck out three in his outing and allowed only four baserunners, all of which came between strikeouts in the fourth inning. After striking out the leadoff batter in the fourth, Booth surrendered two singles and a walk to load the bases with one out. But the next batter hit a groundball to first, a force out was recorded at the plate and Booth struck out the next batter to keep his shutout going. He then retired the next three batters in order in the fifth. By this time the Riptide had established a 3-0 lead, having scored once in their first at bat when Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) hit a leadoff double and scored on a Dylan Rock (UTSA) single, and twice in the second inning when two walks, an RBI-single by Connor Aube (UT-Arlington) and a three-base error made the score 3-0. Noel Soto (Long Beach CC), who was the starting pitcher for the Barons, held the Riptide scoreless for the next four innings after the second, allowing only one hit the rest of his outing to finish with three runs allowed on five hits while striking out two. After Cole Samuels (St. Louis) relieved Booth to start the sixth inning for Orange County and retired three straight, the last two via strikeouts, the Barons offense rallied in the seventh, taking advantage of a walk and a two-base error, two singles and a sacrifice fly off of Riptide reliever Justin Lewis (Texas Tech) to score twice. Lewis surrendered another single before Noah Walker (Texas State) came in to pitch and squashed the rally by striking out the only batter he faced. Orange County answered with a run of their own in their half of the seventh, scoring after a walk and three wild pitches. Chase Lyford held the Barons scoreless in the eighth, pitching around a walk and a single to strand two, and then the Riptide added another run when Chad Crosbie (Miami) hit a one-out single and scored on a two-out double by Antonio Cruz (Rice) in the bottom of the inning. Taylor Pendley (Howard) closed out the win for Orange County, surrendering one run in the ninth inning after a walk, a two-base error and an infield groundout before striking out the last batter to end the game. Travis Lavendier (Chico St) pitched the last two innings for the Academy, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two in relief of Soto.
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Healdsburg, CA
The Healdsburg Prune Packers swept a doubleheader against the San Francisco Seals tonight at Recreation Park, winning 16-9 and 7-5.
Joe Lampe (UC Davis) had three hits, including a three-run home run, Cal Conley (Texas Tech) hit a two-run home run and an RBI-single, Cam Blake (Texas A&M) hit a triple, two doubles and a single and Jeff Kersten struck out seven in a five and one-third inning start to lead the Packers to a 16-9 win in the opener. Lampe’s home run capped the scoring in the game, capped a six-run eighth inning for the Packers and capped an 18-hit performance by the Healdsburg offense that featured six players posting multiple-hit games. Kersten held the Seals scoreless until surrendering a two-out RBI-double to Michael Peter (Central Washington) in the fourth inning, pitched a scoreless fifth and got the first out in the sixth before allowing two consecutive singles ended his outing. Chris Joaquim (UNLV) relieved Kersten and the first batter he faced in the sixth, Coby Eckstein, hit a three-run home run to make the score 6-4. And, although San Francisco would go on to score once in the seventh inning and four more times in the eighth, the 6-4 score was as close as the Seals would get as Healdsburg scored three times in the bottom of the sixth, once in the seventh and their six-spot in the eighth to win going away.
Kevin Sandri (Pacific) had two hits, including an RBI-triple, Blake hit a solo home run and drove in a second run, and Michael Clark (Cal Poly) struck out seven in a seven-inning start to lead Healdsburg to a 7-5 win the second game of the doubleheader. Sandri’s triple in the fifth inning drove in Lampe, who had singled, and tied the score 2-2 after the Packers had taken the early lead when Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara) doubled and scored on an error in the first inning, only to have San Francisco score twice in the third inning on a run-producing groundout and an RBI-single by Matt Monahan (St. Xavier) to move out front. Clark had retired the first six batters he faced before Peter hit a leadoff single to start the Seals’ two-run third and, after the two runs had scored, Clark threw four scoreless innings, allowing only two singles and three total baserunners the rest of his outing. Blake’s home run to lead off the sixth inning gave the Packers the lead and put Clark in line for the win, and their four-run seventh, which included RBI-singles by David Langer (UConn) and Logan Douglas (Santa Rosa JC) was much-needed insurance. The Seals scored three late-inning runs to get within striking distance, scoring twice in the eighth inning on an RBI-triple by Monahan and a sacrifice fly, and once in the ninth on a bases loaded walk, but Devin Kirby, who came in to pitch after Spencer Hynes (Houston) pitched the eighth, struck out his third batter of the ninth inning to end the game for Healdsburg. Sam Gomez (Citrus JC) was the starting pitcher in this game for San Francisco, striking out eight over six innings of work while allowing three runs on four hits before Eckstein came in to pitch the last two innings.
July 8, 2019
Pasadena, CA
Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) had five hits and scored four times, Taison Corio (Delta JC) had three hits, including a two-run home run, scored four times and drove in three runs, and Tanner Lindsly (Oral Roberts) went two-for-three with three RBI to lead the San Luis Obispo Blues to a 12-5 win over the Arroyo Seco Saints tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Swift and Corio had hits in each of their first three at bats tonight and that coincided with the big lead the Blues set early in the game. They both singled in the top of the first inning and both scored when Lindsly drove them in with a two-out single. They both singled again in the second inning when San Luis strung together five two-out hits to score six times, and Swift singled to leadoff the fourth inning right before Corio hit his home run. By this time the Blues had amassed a 10-2 lead and, when the sixth inning came around, Swift singled again and Corio walked in front of a Nick Hansen (Grand Canyon) two-run double to increase the lead to 12-2. The Blues’ pitching staff benefitted from all the run support, including starter Tyler Chivens who, after surrendering two runs in the bottom of the first inning when Anthony Forte (Richmond) led off with a double and scored on an infield groundout and an error led to an unearned run, retired nine of the last ten batters he faced, with three strikeouts, to throw the last three innings of his outing scoreless. Andrew Alvarez (Cal Poly) then retired six of the seven batters he faced to pitch the fifth and sixth innings scoreless before the Saints scored an unearned run off of Kyle Richardson (Texas A&M) in the seventh. Braeden Gowdy relieved Richardson to start the eighth inning and surrendered three one-out hits, including a Thomas Luevano (San Diego) solo home run and an Andy Garriola (Old Dominion) RBI-double. But Gowdy retired two of the next three batters in the eighth to limit the damage and then retired the side in order in the ninth to close out the San Luis win with three strikeouts over two innings of work. Drew Atherton (Cal Poly Pomona) started on the mound for the Saints and suffered the loss, allowing eight runs on nine hits over an inning and two-thirds. Race Gardner (Hawaii-Hilo), who relieved Atherton with two outs in the second inning after the sixth Blues hit and retired the only batter he faced, went on to pitch three and a third innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out two. Jamie Robertson (Emory) started the sixth inning for Arroyo Seco and, after surrendering the last two Blues runs, pitched a scoreless seventh before Zach Griggs (UTSA) finished the game for the Saints with two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.
July 7, 2019
Thousand Oaks, CA
The Conejo Oaks swept a doubleheader against the Orange County Riptide today at Sparky Anderson Field, winning both games by one run, the first by walk-off in an unconventional way. The Oaks took advantage of three walks and a balk to, first, tie the score late in the game and, second, to beat the Riptide 3-2 in walk-off fashion in the first game today. Steele Ledford (UC Santa Barbara) walked twice late in the game for Conejo, to leadoff the seventh inning and score the first of two runs that tied the score 2-2, and to leadoff the ninth inning and score the winning run. Ledford’s first walk, followed one out later by a walk received by Raul Sandoval (Oxnard JC) put the tying runs aboard in the seventh and an RBI-single by Tyler Odekirk (Cal St LA) and a sacrifice fly tied the score. Orange County had led in the game since consecutive singles by Caleb Denny (Arkansas) and Blake Faddoul (Santa Clara) to lead off the third inning and a run-producing groundout gave the Riptide a 1-0 lead. Tanner King, who started on the mound for Orange County, held that lead through five shutout innings, allowing three singles while striking out six, and Andre Antone (UC Irvine) pitched a scoreless sixth before the Riptide added another run in the seventh when Joshua Solomon (Columbia) hit a one-out double and Chad Crosbie (Miami) drove him in with a two-out single. Travis Weston (Boise St), the starting pitcher in the first game for Conejo, retired the first six batters he faced before surrendering the first Riptide run and retired four of the last five batters he faced to finish his four-inning start with four strikeouts. Eric Ma (Cal Lutheran) and Marshall Denton (Arkansas) each pitched a scoreless inning before Chris Torres (Moorpark JC) took over the seventh and surrendered the second Riptide run. Clay Rickerman (Cal Lutheran) pitched the eighth and ninth innings scoreless, pitching around a leadoff single and stolen base in the eighth by Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) to strand one, and a leadoff batter who reached base safely in the ninth on a dropped third strike to strand another, striking out two and getting a pop out to keep the game tied. The winning run scored when Devin Sutorius (Biola), who had entered the game with two outs in the seventh inning in relief of Noah Walker (Texas St) and pitched a scoreless eighth, walked Ledford to leadoff the bottom of the ninth and, after a single by Trent MacKinney put runners on the corners, Sutorius balked and Ledford scored.
Zach Kaminkow (West Texas A&M) hit a two-run double, Sandoval drove in one with a double, Matthew Strother (UC Santa Barbara) stranded the potential winning and go-ahead runs on base in the sixth inning and Denton stranded the potential tying run at second base in the seventh to lead the Oaks to a 4-3 win in the second game of the doubleheader today. Kaminkow’s double capped a three-run fourth inning that gave the Oaks their first lead in the second game, 4-2, and followed two consecutive singles by Jacob Castro (UC Irvine) and Odekirk to lead off the inning and an error that had tied the score. Orange County had scored first when Max Ferguson (Tennessee) hit a one-out single in the first inning, advanced to third on a two-base error and scored on a sacrifice fly and, after Sandoval hit his RBI-double with two outs in the second, the Riptide took the lead again in the third, scoring when Peabody doubled and Ferguson singled him in. Both Riptide runs were charged to Oaks starting pitcher Carson Carter (Texas Tech) who went three innings, allowing three hits while striking out two before turning the pitching duties over to the Oaks bullpen. Gerry Ramirez pitched around singles in the fourth and fifth innings to hold Orange County scoreless for two innings, but the Riptide rallied for one run against Kyle Nicol (Cal Poly) in the sixth, taking advantage of a walk and a pair of two-out singles by Blake Evans (Georgia Southern) and Connor Aoki (Binghamton) to get within one. Strother relieved Nicol with two outs and two on in the seventh and got a fly out to end the inning, and then Denton pitched around a leadoff double by Peabody, his third hit of the game, to strand the tying run in scoring position by getting a pop out and two groundball outs to close out the Oaks win. Michael Defelippi (Pacific) started on the mound in the second game for Orange County, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out three in three and two-thirds innings of work. Andrew Davis got the last out of the fourth inning for the Riptide and pitched a scoreless fifth before Ryan Sublette (Texas Tech) pitched a scoreless sixth to finish on the mound for the Riptide.
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Healdsburg, CA
Kevin Sandri (Pacific) hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, Bryan Sturges (UTSA) hit a three-run home run, Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara) hit a bases-clearing double and Trey Garlett (Texas Tech) struck out seven in a five-inning start to lead the Healdsburg Prune Packers to a 13-11 win over the Lincoln Potters today at Recreation Park. Sandri’s grand slam, which followed a solo home run in the second inning by Cam Blake (Texas A&M), Dicochea’s double in the fourth and his own RBI-single in the fourth, gave Healdsburg what seemed to be an unsurmountable 9-1 lead after five innings. Especially with Garlett pitching. Garlett dominated throughout his five-inning start, allowing one hit, a two-out double by Isaiah Garcia (Cal St. Fullerton) in the first inning, a leadoff walk in the third and an unearned run when a leadoff two-base error and two advancing groundouts allowed Lincoln to score their only run off of him. Other than those three baserunners, Garlett retired every other hitter he faced, striking out seven and retiring 15 of 18 overall. After the two teams traded runs in the sixth inning, Lincoln scoring on an RBI-single by Garcia and Healdsburg scoring when Dicochea hit his second double of the game and scored later on a sacrifice fly, the Potters got back in the game by scoring four runs on three hits, including an RBI-single by Larry Fonseca (Northridge) and a two-run single by Tanner O’Tremba (Texas Tech) in the seventh to make the score 10-6, only to have the Packers extend their lead back out when Sturges hit his home run in the bottom half of the inning. Lincoln made another run at the game in the eighth inning when four walks plated one run and O’Tremba hit a two-out grand slam to make it 13-11, but that was as close as they would get. Randy Polonia (UConn) came in to pitch for the Packers and pitched around two walks to strand the potential tying runs aboard in the ninth inning and close out the win for Healdsburg.
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Pasadena, CA
Michel Garza (Incarnate Word) struck out seven in a four-inning start and the Arroyo Seco Saints scored four runs on five singles in the third inning to open up a seven-run lead in route to beating the Academy Barons 7-3 today at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Garza was dominant through three innings of his start, retiring every batter he faced plus one as a batter he struck out reached base safely on a dropped third strike. While he was pitching the Saints offense was stringing together hits, scoring once in their first at bat when Drew Cowley (Cal Poly Pomona) hit an RBI-single, twice in the second inning when Christian Scott (Tennessee) hit an RBI-triple and scored on a sacrifice fly and four times in the third when the first four batters of the inning singled to plate two and, one out later, Tido Robles hit a two-run single to give the Saints a 7-0 lead. The Barons finally got to Garza in the fourth inning, stringing four consecutive singles together themselves to lead off the inning to score twice, but those were the only runs they would score until two outs in the ninth inning when Logan Pollack (Michigan) singled and Jacob Shanks (UC Riverside) doubled him home to post the final 7-3 score. In between, the Saints bullpen held the Barons in check. Hayden Harris (Georgia Southern), who relieved Garza to start the fifth inning, pitched around a single in each of the next three innings by retiring the three other batters of each inning, three by strikeout, to hold the Academy scoreless. Chris Burnette (Cal Poly Pomona) pitched a one-two-three eighth inning and Grant Young (San Francisco) retired the first two batters of the ninth before Pollack singled, Shanks doubled and was thrown out trying to reach third base to end the game. Julian Jackson (Eastern Kentucky) started on the mound for the Academy, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out two in two innings, David Appleby (Michigan) pitched the next four innings and surrendered four runs on five hits, and Yuji Sakane (East LA JC) and Sean Paquet (LMU) each pitched a scoreless inning for the Barons.
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Santa Barbara, CA
Eric Kennedy (Texas) went five-for-five with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI, Dru Baker (Texas Tech) had three hits and two RBI and Zach Presno (Fresno State) hit a two-run home run to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 7-1 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues today at Pershing Park. Kennedy hit safely in each of his five plate appearances today, singling to leadoff the bottom of the first inning, doubling in the Foresters first run of the game in the third, singling in the team’s second run in the fifth, tripling in the seventh and hitting another single in the eighth. His performance alone was enough offense for Santa Barbara to win the game as five Foresters pitchers combined to pitch eight scoreless innings and scatter eight hits while striking out seven. Brooks Fuller (Auburn) started on the mound for the Foresters and struck out five over his five innings of work. Fuller did surrender five hits, however, two to lead off the game by Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) and Taison Corio (Delta JC), which he stranded, two to lead off the second inning by Duke Pahukoa (UNLV) and Brett Harris (Gonzaga), which led to the Blues’ only run, and Corio’s two-out single in the third. Other than those hits, Fuller was spot on, issuing no walks and retiring every other hitter he faced except the batter who reached on an error in the fifth and who was subsequently caught stealing. By the time Fuller left, the game was still up for grabs. Santa Barbara had scored only once when Kennedy’s double drove in Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt), who had led off the second inning with a single, and the score remained 1-1. But before a pitcher could replace Fuller, the Foresters offense scored four times. Ryan Cash (Oral Roberts) hit a one-out double and scored on a Kennedy single, Baker doubled home Kennedy and Presno hit his home run. Nico O’Donnell (Texas) relieved Fuller to start the sixth inning with a 5-1 lead and held the Blues scoreless over the next inning and two-thirds, pitching around a Brian Klein two-out double in the sixth and a two-out walk and single in the seventh with an assist from Issac Coffey (Oral Roberts) who got the last out of the inning and stranded two baserunners. Jacob Burton (Arkansas) pitched around Klein’s second two-out hit of the game to throw a scoreless eighth inning and Connor Woods (UNLV) retired the side in order in the ninth to finish the game for Santa Barbara. Blues’ pitcher Noah Huerta (Texas Tech) had a strong three-inning start and, after Kennedy singled and was thrown out trying to steal second base to start his outing, he retired five straight until Jones’ single in the third. Brett Super (Pitzer) took over for Huerta to start the fourth inning and struck out three and walked one to throw one scoreless inning before the Foresters rallied in the fifth and saddled him with four runs on four hits in an inning and two-thirds work. Connor Wilford relieved Super and got the final out of the fifth inning and retired the side in order in the sixth before Kennedy tripled to lead off the seventh and scored on a Baker single, and Ross Cadena (Wichita St) drove in Baker with a two-out single to post the final 7-1 score. Wilford then pitched a scoreless eighth inning to finish on the mound for San Luis.
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Fairfield, CA
Isaiah Verrett (UC Davis) had three hits, including a three-run home run, and four RBI, Wellington Balsley (Solano JC) had three hits and scored three runs, Christian Harkey (Savannah St) hit a pair of RBI-doubles and Caleb Hill (Savannah St) struck out seven over a six-inning start to lead the Solano Mudcats to a 10-3 win over the San Francisco Seals today at Vanden High. Balsley, from his leadoff position, and Verrett, batting second, both singled and scored in the first inning to open the scoring for the Mudcats, Balsley scoring on run-producing groundout and Verrett on Harkey’s first double of the game, to give Solano an early 2-0 lead. That score held until the two teams traded two runs in the fourth inning, the Seals getting two on a Matt Monahan (St. Xavier) and three singles, including RBI-hits by Marco Castillo (Claremont McKenna) and Samuel Gomez (Citrus JC), and Solano getting two on three singles, including a Josh Medina (Sonoma St) two-out RBI, and a Verrett sacrifice fly. Those were the only runs allowed by the two starting pitchers today. Both Drew Sthal, who started for San Francisco, and Hill notched seven strikeouts over their six-inning outings and both walked two batters. The Mudcats didn’t break the game open until the later innings when they scored a pair of two-out runs in the seventh on a walk, a single and a three-base error, and four times in the eighth when two leadoff walks set the table for Varrett’s three-run home run, and Medina’s second single of the game set the table for Harkey’s second RBI-double of the game. Cody Switzer (Napa Valley JC), who entered the game for Solano to start the seventh inning in relief of Hill, pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts and allowed one run in the eighth on a Donny Bendo home run, before Angelo Zorn (Occidental) closed out the win with a scoreless ninth and two strikeouts.
July 6, 2019
Thousand Oaks, CA
Eli Riechmann (Blinn), Justin Kleinsorge (Regis), Isaiah Ramos (Antelope Valley JC) and Zach Griggs (San Antonio) retired 15 straight batters to complete a combined five-hit, one-run pitching performance and lead the Arroyo Seco Saints to a 4-1 win over the Conejo Oaks today at Sparky Anderson Field. The dominant ending by the Saints’ pitchers topped the early frustrations the Conejo offense had against Riechmann, who started the game for Arroyo Seco, allowed baserunners in every inning, including the leadoff batter in four of his five-inning start, but shut down any chance the Oaks had of forming a rally. Riechmann surrendered a leadoff single in the first inning to Gabe Baldovino (Ventura JC) but retired the next three batters in a row to hold the Oaks scoreless. He did the same in the fourth and fifth innings when the leadoff hitters reached base on a walk and a hit batter and retired three of four in the second inning to pitch around a two-out single by Raul Sandoval (Oxnard CC). Only in the third inning, when Tyker Odekirk (Cal St LA) and Baldovino hit consecutive singles to leadoff the inning did Riechmann surrender a run, on a sacrifice fly, and even then he retired the last three batters of the inning to limit the damage. Kleinsorge’s outing, which started in the sixth inning and last two and two-thirds innings, was even cleaner that Riechmann’s. Kleinsorge retired eight straight batters, erasing the only batter to reach base safely by inducing an inning-ending double play in the seventh inning. Ramos, who relieved Kleinsorge with two outs in the eighth inning, and Griggs kept the trend going by retiring the last four batters in a row to close out the win. Jacob Flores (San Diego St) started on the mound for Conejo and allowed two runs, one unearned, on three hits while striking out four in four and a third innings of work. Flores threw three scoreless innings before a one-out walk, a single and two Oaks errors gave the Saints a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Peyton Ebel (Greensboro), who relieved Flores with one out in the fifth inning, surrendered the other two Saints runs in the sixth when Thomas Luevano (San Diego), Jayson Gonzalez (Vanderbilt) and Nikolas Pagan (Hartford) all hit singles to plate two. Reece Matheisen (Glendale JC), Kyle Nicol (Cal Poly) and Clay Rickerman (Cal Lutheran) each pitched a scoreless inning for the Oaks, allowing one hit between them, to hold Arroyo Seco scoreless the rest of the way, but the damage was already done.
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Santa Barbara, CA
Luke Taggert (Incarnate Word) and five relievers stranded eleven runners on base and threw eight shutout innings, Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) and Christian Franklin (Arkansas) each hit RBI-doubles and Connor Pavolony (Tennessee) and Tevin Tucker (West Virginia) each doubled and scored to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 3-2 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues tonight at Pershing Park. Taggert started on the mound for Santa Barbara and scattered five hits and struck out three in his four shutout innings, allowing one hit in every inning, two in the second, to strand four baserunners. With the one walk he issued, Taggert allowed a total of six baserunners but one was erased caught stealing and the other was the front end of a double-play. By the time Taggert left the Foresters were leading 1-0, having scored one run in the second inning on back-to-back two-out doubles by Pavolony and Jones. Drake Greenwood (Rice) relived Taggert to start the fifth inning and retired three of four batters to strand one and Caden Monke (Arkansas) stranded three in the sixth after an error, a single and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. It wasn’t until the seventh inning, when Brock Helverson (West Virgina) came in to pitch for the Foresters and issued three walks and the Blues got a bunt single, did San Luis manage to reach home plate, scoring once when a walk forced in a run and a second time on a sacrifice fly. But even then the Blues stranded baserunners. Elijah Trest (Arkansas), who relieved Helverson with no outs and one run in in the seventh, retired the three hitters he faced in the seventh to strand two baserunners in scoring position, and then went on to retire three of four in the eighth, with two strikeouts, to strand one more. Hunter Breualt (Oregon) did not strand anybody in the ninth, however, retiring all three batters he faced to close out the Santa Barbara win. Mitchell Scott (Cal), who was the starting pitcher tonight for the Blues and struck out seven in his five-inning stint, held Santa Barbara to that early 1-0 lead until the fifth inning when a one-out error put a runner on base, a Franklin single put runners on the corners and a wild pitch made the score 2-0. Evan Ingram (Hendrix), who relieved Scott, pitched a scoreless sixth inning before surrendering the Foresters’ third run when Tucker led off the seventh inning with his double and Franklin drove him in one out later with what proved to be the winning run. Gabe Constantine (Rio Grande Valley) retired three straight in the eighth inning to finish on the mound for San Luis.
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Compton, CA
Blake Evans (Georgia Southern) hit a two-run triple, and relief pitchers Sean Higgins (Columbia), Trey Lipscomb (Tennessee) and Marrick Crouse retired 15 of the last 18 batters of the game without surrendering a hit to secure a one-run advantage and lead the Orange County Riptide to a 5-4 win over the Academy Barons tonight at the MLB Youth Academy. Evans’ triple, and the run he scored thereafter on a sacrifice fly, capped a three-run fourth inning that gave the Riptide its first lead of the game. Orange County had scored first in the game when three walks and an Eric Bigani (UNLV) single in the first inning gave them a 1-0 lead, but the Barons scored twice in their half of the first on three two-out hits, including a two-run double by Logan Pollack (Michigan), and once in the third on a Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky) two-out single, to lead 3-1 heading into the fourth. But Brandon Mitchell (New Orleans), who started on the mound for the Barons and struck out four in his four innings of work, walked the first two batters he faced in the fourth and, after striking out one, Evans hit his triple to tie it and then scored the go-ahead run. From that point forward the four Orange County relievers dominated the game. Higgins, who relieved starter Wes Engle (Texas St) with one out in the third inning, pitched around a single in both the fourth and fifth innings to hold the Barons at bay and Lipscomb retired three straight in the sixth to start the relievers performance. Then, after both teams traded unearned runs in the seventh without the benefit of a hit, the Riptide scoring after a walk, a stolen base and a two-base error and the Barons scoring after a batter reached base on an error and advanced on a wild pitch and a passed ball to score on a run-producing groundout, Crouse retired six of the last seven batters of the game, three via strikeouts, to close out the win. Noah Owen, who relieved Mitchell to start the fifth inning, threw two and two thirds innings for the Barons, allowing the one unearned run in the seventh and one hit, and JP Massey (Minnesota) threw the last two and a third innings hitless with two strikeouts to finish on the mound for the Academy.
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Healdsburg, CA
The Lincoln Potters took advantage of seven walks and three hit batters and got a pair of big two-run hits from Matt Lopez and Zach Arnold (Oregon) to spoil a three home run performance by the Healdsburg Prune Packers and win 13-10 tonight at Recreation Park. The seven batters who walked and scored tonight for the Potters, from among the total ten they received, and the three hit batters that scored, from a total of four, was the difference in the game tonight. Lincoln scored four runs in their first at bat and, although they got three singles from Isaiah Garcia (Cal St Fullerton), Alex Schroeder (Folsom JC) and Lorenzo Debrecht (Sierra JC) to plate their first, two walks and a hit batter scored the other three. They used a leadoff walk and a single to put runners on in the third inning in front of Arnold’s two-run single to score twice more, used two hit batters and a walk to load the bases and score four times in the seventh, a walk and a double by Tanner O’Tremba (Texas Tech) to score twice in the eighth when Lopez drove in two, and a walk, another Lopez single and a passed ball to score their last in the ninth. The free passes gave Lincoln the lead early, but after Healdsburg scored once in the first inning on a Cal Conley (Texas Tech) leadoff home run and seven times in the second on a Travis Turney (Portland) three-run home run, an RBI-double by Bryan Sturges (UTSA), a Cam Blake (Texas A&M) single and three walks and a hit batter, the Potters used the free passes to get back into the game and then to take the game. Lincoln’s starting pitcher Travis Parker (Utah Valley), after enduring the second inning, held the Packers scoreless in the third and fourth innings, and Kyle Stout held them scoreless in the fifth and sixth with four strikeouts before surrendering one run in seventh when Cole Stilwell (Texas Tech) hit a solo home run. Tyler Mead (Biola) then pitched the eighth and ninth innings for Lincoln to close out the win, surrendering one run when Sturges led off the eighth with his second double of the game and scored out one later on a sacrifice fly.
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Fairfield, CA
The Solano Mudcats took advantage of five walks and a hit batter to generate six runs in the fifth inning, getting a two-out two-run single by Josh Medina (Sonoma St) to break open a 4-1 ballgame and go on to beat the San Francisco Seals 14-3 today at Vanden High. The five walks in the fifth inning were from among the eleven Solano received in the game, eight of which scored. The free passes extended innings and set the table for run-producing hits, but they didn’t happen until the second half of the game, and that is when the Mudcats blew the game open. After the Seals scored first when Robert Lujan (Cal St East Bay) led off the game with a triple and scored on a Jackson Hall (Los Medanos JC) single, the Mudcats hit their way into the lead, scoring twice in their half of the first inning when Isaiah Varrett (UC Davis) led off with a double, Wesley Galloway (Sterling) reached on an error and a run-producing groundout and an RBI-single by Justin Banks (Coppin St) made the score 2-1. They hit their way to two more runs in the fourth inning when Angelo Zorn (Occidental) and Adam Chadwick hit a single and double, respectively, to lead off the inning, scoring on a passed ball and an RBI-groundout. Then the walks started coming and the lead expanded. Sonny Brandwood, who started on the mound for the Seals and struck out four over three innings and allowed two runs on three hits, only walked the first of the eleven issued by the San Francisco pitchers. It was after he left the game that the walks came and when the lead expanded. After Solano scored six in the fifth inning, they took advantage of two walks, two hit batters and another Zorn single to plate two more in the sixth, and the two batters who walked in the seventh scored on an RBI-double by Jason Pridy (Solano JC) and an RBI-single by Hunter Dorraugh (Sac St) in the eighth to finish their scoring. Nate Freeman (UC Davis) started on the mound today for Solano and struck out five over six innings of work, allowing one run on four hits to pick up the win. Edgar Aqui (Solano JC) pitched a scoreless seventh and Ben Aguigui (Holy Names) pitched a scoreless eighth before surrendering an RBI-single to Lujan and an RBI-double Donny Bendo, his second double of the game, in the ninth to finish the game.
July 5, 2019
Santa Barbara, CA
Christian Winston (San Diego St), Kevin Larson (Fresno St), Clayton Beeter (Texas Tech), Connor Curry (Nebraska) and Hunter Breault (Oregon) combined for 13 strikeouts and eight shutout innings, Zach Presno (Fresno St) hit a two-run home run and Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) had a game-high three RBI to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 13-1 win over the Academy Barons tonight at Pershing Park. Winston was the starting pitcher tonight for Santa Barbara and threw the first three scoreless innings, allowing four baserunners on three singles and a walk, one of which was erased from the bases on a caught stealing. Larson pitched the fourth, allowing the only Barons run of the game when he walked the leadoff batter and, two outs later, Kendall Pettis (Oklahoma) hit an RBI-triple. Beeter had the most dominant outing from among the five Foresters pitchers tonight, facing the minimum nine batters in his three-inning appearance, striking out six and the only batter to reach base safely against him did so on a dropped third strike only to be thrown out soon thereafter trying to steal second base. Curry and Breault each pitched a one-two-three inning in the eighth and ninth, striking out one and two batters, respectively, to close out the win. In total, the five Foresters pitchers allowed seven baserunners, stranded four and erased three off the bases to face only five over the minimum 27 for the game. Santa Barbara was just as dominant on the offensive side of the game tonight, collecting eleven hits as a team with eight of the nine starting lineup’s hitters getting at least one hit and five batters driving in multiple runs. Christian Franklin (Arkansas) drove in the first run of the game for Santa Barbara, plating Eric Kennedy (Texas) who led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. Those were the only two hits allowed by Barons starting pitcher Elijah Pleasants (Tennessee) who pitched around four walks and a hit batter to throw four scoreless innings with four strikeouts after the first to keep the Academy close. But as soon as Pleasants left the game the Foresters rallied, scoring four runs in the sixth inning on four walks and three hits, including a two-run single by Blake Hall (Oral Roberts); five runs in the seventh on two walks, a pair of Barons’ errors and three hits, including Fresno’s two-run home run, a Kennedy RBI-double and a Quentin Selma (Cal) run-scoring single; and three more in the eighth on a Bellafronto two-run single and Franklin’s second RBI-single of the game.
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Healdsburg, CA
Cal Conley (Texas Tech) doubled and hit a grand slam, Travis Turney (Portland) hit a solo home run and the Healdsburg Prune Packers offense scored six runs to break open a 2-2 game in the seventh inning in route to beating the Lincoln Potters 8-2 tonight at Recreation Park. Conley’s slam capped the Packers’ streak of six consecutive batters to each base safely and score before an out was recorded in the seventh inning. The rally gave Healdsburg their first lead in the game after Lincoln scored in their first at bat when leadoff hitter Nolan Young (Illinois St) reached base after being hit by a pitch, advanced on a Zach Arnold (Oregon) and a walk, and scored on a run-producing groundout. Lincoln’s starting pitcher Keith Walker (Yuba JC) held that lead, retiring the first four batters he faced, until one out in the second inning when Turney hit his home run to tie the score. Walker then retired ten of the next eleven batters he faced through the end of the fifth inning, pitching with the lead again after Lorenzo Debrecht (Sierra JC) hit a home run to lead off the fourth. But in the sixth inning, Conley hit a leadoff double, stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly to tie score again. As soon as Walker left the game the Packers pounced, getting their first six batters on base safely on three walks, a single, a hit batter and Conley’s slam to blow the game open. Ian Villers (Cal) started on the mound for Healdsburg and pitched five innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three. Randy Polonia (UConn) started the sixth inning in relief of Villers and struck out three over two scoreless innings to pick up the win before Michael Clark threw scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth with a pair of strikeouts to close out the win.
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San Luis Obispo, CA
Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) doubled and scored on an RBI-single by Taison Corio (Delta JC) to tie the score in the eighth and Swift drove in the winning run with a one-out RBI-single in the ninth to lead the San Luis Obispo Blues to a 3-2 walk-off win over the Arroyo Seco Saints tonight at Sinsheimer Park. Swift’s late-inning heroics overshadowed the strong pitching performances of the Saints’ Colin King (Regis) and Alex Cornwell (USC), who had each struck out six over four and three and two-thirds innings of work, respectively, surrendering no earned runs on three singles. But the Blues’ Derek True (Cal Poly) and Kyle Richardson (Texas A&M) were equally strong in their outings, striking out three and seven batters, respectively, and each allowing only one run. Arroyo Seco plated an unearned run off of True in the second inning when the leadoff hitter reached base on an error and eventually scored on a run-producing groundout to take a 1-0 lead. Then, after the Blues scored an unearned run of their own in the third to tie the score, Drew Cowley (Cal Poly Pomona) hit a solo home run with two outs in the fifth inning to again put the Saints up by one. Richardson then pitched the last four innings scoreless, stranding a leadoff double in both the sixth and seventh innings and retiring the side in order in the eighth to set up the Blues comeback. After Swift’s double and Corio’s single tied the score and Richardson retired the Saints in the top of the ninth inning, the first two batters for San Luis walked in the bottom of the ninth to put the winning run in scoring position and, after a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners one base, Swift hit his walk-off to give the Blues the win.
July 4, 2019
Santa Barbara, CA
Starting pitcher Nick Jones (Georgia Southern) pitched four scoreless innings, striking out six, and he and four relievers combined to pitch a shutout and combined for 14 strikeouts to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 3-0 win over the Santa Barbara Foresters today at Pershing Park. Jones struck out two in his first inning today and picked off the only runner who reached base to start the scoreless outing. He then struck out three in the second inning, pitching around a Dru Baker (Texas Tech) one-out single, got defensive help in the third when the leadoff hitter he walked was erased off the bases at the front end of a groundball double-play and, again, when Eric Kennedy (Texas) hit a two-out single, Kennedy was thrown out trying to steal second base, and then Jones pitched around a two-out walk to retire three of the four batters he faced in the fourth. The Riptide pitchers got all the run support they would need in the bottom half of the third inning when Blake Evans (Georgia Southern) hit a one-out double, a dropped third strike put runners on the corners, a double-steal plated one run and a Foresters error plated another to give Orange County a 2-0 lead. Chase Lyford was the first reliever inserted into the game for the Riptide and pitched around a leadoff walk and a one-out hit batter by striking out two and getting a groundball out to pitch a scoreless fifth inning and retired the side in order in the sixth. Andrew Davis then pitched a one-two-three seventh inning with two strikeouts, Taylor Pendley (Howard) struck out two in a scoreless eighth and got the first two hitters in the ninth before the Foresters loaded the bases on Baker’s second single of the game, a walk and an error. Tanner King relieved Pendley and struck out the only batter he faced to close out the Riptide win. Ryan Bergert (West Virginia) started on the mound for Santa Barbara, allowing the first two Riptide runs and four hits while striking out four over four innings. Brock Helverson (West Virginia) pitched a one-two-three fifth inning in relief of Bergert, Connor Woods (UNLV) pitched the sixth scoreless, assisted by a runner thrown out at home plate trying to score from second base on a two-out single by Connor Aoki (Binghamton), and walked the one batter he faced in the seventh before being relieved by Brad Demco, who walked the first batter he faced and got a pop-fly out before Carson Matthews (BYU) singled in Orange County’s third run of the game. Matthews was thrown out trying to advanced the second base on his single and Demco struck out the last batter of the seventh and all three batters he faced in the eighth inning before Nico O’Donnell (Texas) retired three straight with two strikeouts to pitch a scoreless ninth.
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Healdsburg, CA
Robert Lujan (Cal St East Bay) doubled twice, tripled and drove in two, Drew Lowe (Oral Roberts) had three hits, two RBI and scored twice, and Alex Schmitz (Oral Roberts) hit an RBI-double late in the game to lead the San Francisco Seals to a 10-8 win over the Healdsburg Prune Packers today at Recreation Park and spoil a two-home run performance by the Packers’ Cam Blake (Texas A&M). Lujan’s first double, which drove in two, capped a three-run third inning that got the Seals back into the game after Healdsburg scored four times in their first at bat, getting their first four hitters on base on an error and three hits, and scoring on an RBI-single by Bryan Sturges (UTSA) and a three-run home run by Blake. After Lujan’s double in the third inning got the Seals to within one, the Packers answered with two runs in their half of the inning when Sturges and Blake reached base to leadoff the inning on a single and a walk, respectively, Sturges scored on the first of Travis Turney’s (Portland) three singles in the game, and Blake scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-3. Healdsburg starting pitcher Morgan White (Portland), who retired six of the first seven batters he faced before an error to leadoff the third inning started the San Francisco rally, held the 6-3 lead until the fifth inning when the Seals scored once when Marco Castillo (Claremont McKenna) hit a leadoff single, Lujan’s second double of the game put two runners in scoring position and an RBI-goundout made the score 6-4. White finished the fifth inning by stranding two runners on base without incurring further damage and was relieved to start the sixth inning by Hunter Mayo who surrendered the Seals’ fifth run when Lowe singled for the second time in the game, advanced around the bases on a walk, error and a passed ball to get San Francisco back within one. Sam Gomez (Citrus JC), who relieved San Francisco’s starting pitcher Will Moscato (Macalester) to start the sixth inning, held the Packers scoreless over the next two innings, pitching around a pair of two-out singles in the sixth and retiring the side in order in the seventh until the Seals took their first lead of the game in the top of the eighth when Schmitz hit his RBI-double to tie the score and, one-out later, scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball. Gomez retired the only two batters he faced to start the bottom of the eighth inning before Peyton Baker (Alabama A&M) came into strikeout one to hold the Seals lead 7-6. The Seals scored three important insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning when Lowe drove in two runs with his third single of the game and then scored on a Gianni Bloom two-out single. Those runs were important because Blake hit his second home run of the game, this time a two-run shot, that would’ve tied the score otherwise. Baker struck out the last batter of the game to close out the Seals’ win.
July 3, 2019
Alameda, CA
Zach Bushling went four-for-five with three doubles and five RBI, Matt Lopez hit a pair of two-out RBI-singles and drove in four, and Radd Thomas and Grant Woodside pitched five and two-thirds innings of shutout relief to lead the Lincoln Potters to a 9-5 win over the San Francisco Seals tonight at Alameda College. Bushling and Lopez generated every Lincoln run tonight from their second and third position in the batting order, starting from their first at bat when a Bushling double and a Lopez sacrifice fly gave the Potters a brief 1-0 lead. The lead was brief because the Seals answered the Lincoln run with three of their own in the bottom half of the first when an error put the leadoff batter aboard, Matt Monahan (St. Xavier) hit an RBI-double and Trevor Greenly hit a two-run home run. San Francisco’s starting pitcher Jake McMurray (Oral Roberts), after allowing the sacrifice fly run in the first, struck out the next four batters he faced and threw three scoreless innings while the Seals offense added to their lead, scoring once in the third inning on an error and an RBI-groundout, and once in the fourth when Monahan hit a solo home run to make the score 5-1. When Monahan hit his home run with one out in the fourth inning the Potters relieved starting pitcher Ian Miller (Yakima Valley JC) with Thomas, and for the rest of the game Thomas and then Woodside retired 17 of the 19 batters they faced, each allowing only one hit and only one baserunner, and striking out three and six batters, respectively. The pitching change seemed to jump start the offense as the Potters rallied for three runs in their next bat, getting three hits and a walk, all with two outs. Andrew Buglino (Biola) got the first two-out hit when he singled and, after a walk, Bushling doubled home both runners and then Lopez singled in Bushling to get Lincoln within one. The Potters took the lead in the seventh inning and again Buglino got things started with a leadoff double and, again, after a bunt single by Nolan Young (Illinois St) put runners on the corners, Bushling drove in two runs with a single to put the Potters up 6-5. Bushling doubled for the third time of the game in the eighth inning to drive in his game-high fifth RBI followed by a two-run single by Lopez that posted the final score. McMurray went six innings in his start tonight and struck out eight batters, allowing four runs on six hits before being relieved by Mike McNanie (Canada JC) who pitched the last three innings for the Seals, allowing five runs on seven hits to suffer the loss.
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Thousand Oaks, CA
The first seven batters reached base safely on four walks and three hits, and all seven scored, two on an RBI-double by Kendall Ewell (Eastern Kentucky) and two on an RBI-single by Logan Pollack (Michigan) as the Academy Barons started fast and went on to beat the Conejo Oaks 13-6 today at Sparky Anderson Field. The seven-run opening at bat was the first of three scoring outbursts the Barons had today. They also scored four times in the third inning on three more walks and three hits, including a two-run single by Kendall Pettis (Oklahoma), and took advantage of more free passes in the sixth when the first two batters of the inning reached base on a walk and a hit batter, and both scored, one on a sacrifice fly and one on a wild pitch. The beneficiary of all this run support was Noel Soto (Long Beach CC) who started on the mound for the Barons and pitched four innings with three strikeouts while allowing two runs, both of which came in the fourth inning when Steele Ledford (UC Santa Barbara) led off with a double and scored on an Aaron Suval (Glendale JC) two-out RBI-triple and Suval scored on a Tyler Odekirk (Cal St LA) single. Travis Lavendier (Chico St) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Soto, allowing two hits and striking out two, and Trevor Sutt (Long Beach CC) struck out three over the last three innings but surrendered four runs on four hits to finish the game for the Academy. The Oaks generated two runs in the seventh inning on a two-run double by Zach Kaminkow (West Texas A&M) and two more in the eighth on an RBI-triple by Odekirk and a run-scoring single by Ryne Yamashiro (Cal Lutheran). Six pitchers appeared in the game today for Conejo and only Bailey Holbrook, who pitched the eighth inning, and Marshall Denton (Arkansas), who pitched the ninth, were able to hold the Barons scoreless. Starter Reece Matheisen (Glendale) allowed six runs on two hits to suffer the loss.
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Irvine, CA
Andre Antone (UC Irvine) hit a bases clearing three-run double and Connor Aoki (Binghamton) hit a two-run home run to cap a six-run eighth inning that lead the Orange County Riptide to a 7-4 comeback win over the Santa Barbara Foresters tonight at Great Park Stadium. Trailing 4-1 and having notched only two hits since Michael Peabody (UC Irvine) hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning, the Riptide rally in the eighth inning was ignited by two walks and a single by Carson Matthews (BYU) that loaded the bases and, after an out was recorded on an infield pop-up, a third walk forced in one run and then Antone and Aoki, in consecutive at bats, flipped the score with two swings of the bat. Peabody’s home run in the bottom of the first inning erased the one run lead the Foresters posted in the top half of the inning when Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) hit a home run, but Santa Barbara scored two more times in the second when Blake Hall (Oral Roberts) and Ross Cadena (Wichita St) hit consecutive singles to lead off the inning and scored on an RBI-groundout and a run-scoring single by Conor McKenna (Oklahoma), respectively, and once in the third on a Christian Franklin (Arkansas) single to post the lead they would hold until the eighth inning. Noah Walker (Texas St), who entered the game in relief of starter Devin Sutorius (Biola) to start the fifth inning and threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts, Sean Higgins (Columbia), who retired the side in order in both the seventh and eighth innings, and Marrick Crouse, who pitched a scoreless ninth, held the Foresters in check while waiting for the offense to get on track. Higgins, who was the pitcher of record when the rally did materialize, picked up the win tonight and Crouse earned the save. Jake Jackson (Nevada) started on the mound for Santa Barbara and, after allowing the leadoff home run, retired eleven of the next 13 batters he faced, threw five shutout innings and struck out five in six innings overall. Jacob Burton (Arkansas) pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Foresters but allowed the two walks and the single to start the eighth before turning the pitching duties over to Elijah Trest (Arkansas) who surrendered the two big Riptide hits and suffer the loss.
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San Luis Obispo, CA
Andrew Alvarez (Cal Poly), Tyler Chivens, Connor Wilford, and Braeden Gowdy struckout a combined 18 batters and combined for nine shutout innings but it still took a walk, a stolen base and a two-base error in the tenth inning for the San Luis Obispo Blues to beat the Arroyo Seco Saints 4-3 tonight at Sinsheimer Park. Alvarez was the starting pitcher tonight for San Luis and threw three scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out three before turning the pitching duties over to the Blues bullpen. Chivens was first in to start the fourth inning, having been given two runs of support when a hit batter and a Ryan Cole (Notre Dame) double put two runners on board in the bottom of the third for San Luis, and a Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) RBI-single and a double-steal gave the Blues a 2-0 lead. Chivens took that lead and struckout five over the next three innings to hold the Saints scoreless, then Wilford struck out four in two hitless, scoreless innings, including striking out three straight in the eighth inning. The Blues added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when, with two outs, a two-base error and a Nick Hansen (Grand Canyon) RBI-single made the score 3-0, but things got interesting in the top of the ninth. The Saints rallied for three runs to tie the game, scoring all the runs with two outs after Thomas McCarthy (USF) and Wyatt Stapp (Cincinnati) hit consecutive singles to lead off the inning and Gowdy, who started the ninth inning for the Blues in relief of Wilford, struck out two. After his second strikeout Gowdy walked a hitter to load the bases and Evan Russell (Tennessee) cleared them, hitting a three-run double to tie the score 3-3. Gowdy struck out the last batter of the ninth to escape further damage, and Trevor Beer (UC Santa Barbara), who entered the game to pitch for Arroyo Seco to start the sixth inning in relief of starter Cade Bullinger (Texas St), retired the Blues in order in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Gowdy was back in strikeout form for the tenth inning, striking out the side in order, and picked up the win when, with one out in the bottom of the tenth, Cole drew a walk, stole second and scored the walk-off run one out later when a two-base error let in the winning run. Jamie Robertson (Emory) pitched the tenth inning for the Saints and suffered the loss. Bullinger went five innings in his start, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four, and Beer struck out three and allowed three hits and one run in his four innings of work.
July 2, 2019
Compton, CA
The San Luis Obispo Blues swept a doubleheader today, winning 5-1 and 12-2 over the Academy Barons at the MLB Youth Academy.
Gabe Constantine (Rio Grande Valley) and Mitchell Scott (Cal) held the Barons to three hits over seven innings to lead the Blues in the first game. Constantine started on the mound for San Luis and retired three of the four batters he faced in each of the first three innings of his outing. He struggled a bit in the fourth, issuing three walks and striking out the only batter of his start, so the Blues turned to Scott who relieved him with the bases loaded and one out. An error on the first batter Scott faced allowed the only Barons run of the game to score, but Scott induced an inning-ending double play to limit the damage in the fourth and then went on to throw three more scoreless innings to close out the win, striking out one and allowing one hit. Taison Corio (Delta JC), who had a game-high three hits, scored the first run of the game for the Blues when he singled and scored on a Tanner Lindsly (Oral Roberts) single in the first inning. San Luis scored a single run in the fourth when Corio hit a sacrifice fly after three consecutive singles loaded the bases, and the Blues added three in the top of the seventh when Corio and TJ Rumfield (Texas Tech) hit singles to leadoff the inning, Dylan Beavers (Cal) reached base with one out on a dropped third strike and all three scored, Corio on a wild pitch, Rumfield on an RBI-single by Julian Bury (Columbia) and Rock on a fielder’s choice. Julian Jackson (Eastern Kentucky) was the starting pitcher in this game for the Academy and allowed one run on five hits while striking out two over three innings. Larry Barabino III (Southern) relieved Jackson to start the fourth inning, allowing one run on four hits with two strikeouts in two innings of work and JP Massey (Minnesota) pitched the last two innings, surrendering three runs on three hits while striking out two.
Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) hit a three-run home run and had a game-high four RBI, Ford Sherrington (Hendrix) hit a two-run home run, Noah Huerta (Texas Tech) pitched five innings of one-hit baseball, striking out five, and he and four relievers combined to hold the Academy scoreless over the first eight innings to lead San Luis to a 12-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader today. Swift’s home run, which followed a two-run double by Ryan McCarty in the sixth inning, blew the game open, giving the Blues a 10-0 lead. But it was Swift’s two-out RBI-single in the third inning that got the San Luis offense rolling. Barons’ starting pitcher David Appleby (Michigan) had been cruising up until that point, retiring six of the first seven batters he faced and striking out two in a row in the third after the Blues’ leadoff hitter of the inning reached base on an error. Swift’s two out single broke the ice for the Blues and, although Appleby retired the last batter he faced in third and the first batter of the fourth, the next two batters reached base on a hit batsman and a walk, and a passed ball and Sherrington’s home run, all of a sudden, gave San Luis a four-run lead. That was plenty of run support for Huerta and the Blues relievers. Huerta was dominant throughout his five innings of work, retiring the first eight batters he faced in order before issuing his only walk allowed with two outs in the third, and facing only one batter over the minimum in five innings, assisted by a double-play in the fourth that erased the only hit he allowed. Brett Super (Pitzer) relieved Huerta to start the sixth and struck out two of the four batters he faced, Kai Janowicz (UC Davis) did the same in a scoreless seventh, striking out two, and Kyle Richardson (Texas A&M) pitched around two singles in the eighth to keep the shutout going. Beavers pitched the ninth inning for the Blues, surrendering a walk and a single to the first two batters and then striking out the next two before an error allowed two unearned runs to score. Beavers then struck out his third batter of the inning to close the game. Yuji Sakane (East LA JC), Josh Landry and Travis Lavendier (Chico St) each pitched an inning and two-thirds for the Barons in relief of Appleby, but only Lavendier could keep the Blues in check, retiring four of the five batters he faced with two strikeouts, entering the game with one out in the eighth inning after a Duke Pahukoa (UNLV) RBI-double. The Blues got their final run on a sacrifice fly hit by the first batter Lavendier retired in the eighth.
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Thousand Oaks, CA
Ryan Cash (Oral Roberts) had two hits and two RBI, Blake Hall (Oral Roberts) and Zach Presno (Fresno St) each hit RBI-doubles, and Cole Quintanilla (Texas) and six relievers combined to strikeout twelve as the Santa Barbara Foresters beat the Conejo Oaks 7-4 today at Sparky Anderson Field. Cash’s run production bookended the Foresters scoring today, driving in Presno who had reached on an error in the third inning for Santa Barbara’s first run, and driving in Presno, who had doubled in a run in the ninth, to score their last. Cash’s first hit was part of a three-run rally the Foresters mounted after Oaks’ starting pitcher Gerry Ramirez retired the side in order in both of the first two innings. An error started the rally and then Ramirez surrendered his first two hits, first by Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt), who had a game-high three hits, and second by Cash. Cash’s hit was compounded by another Oaks error that allowed a second runner to score, and a sacrifice fly made it 3-0. Santa Barbara then scored two in the fourth inning when Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) led off with a double and scored on Hall’s double, and Hall scored when Jones got his second hit of the game. That was all the run support Quintanilla and the Foresters relievers would need. Quintanilla started the game and had a mixed outing, retiring three of four with a walk and a strikeout in the first inning, allowing two walks and two singles, including an RBI-single by Tyler Odekirk (Cal St LA) in the second, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts in the third and allowing a walk and a single in the fourth before being relieved. Brock Helverson (West Virginia) relieved Quintanilla with two on and no outs in the fourth and retired the three batters he faced in order, but a passed ball allowed Conejo’s second run to score. Then Connor Curry (Nebraska) retired the next six batters in order, three by strikeout, Clayton Beeter (Texas Tech) struck out two and stranded the bases loaded in the seventh and Brad Demco retired three of four in a scoreless eighth. Drake Greenwood (Rice) started the ninth inning for Santa Barbara but an error allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base, a hit batter, a fielder’s choice and a walk loaded the bases and Ryne Yamashiro (Cal Lutheran) hit a two-run single to plate Conejo’s last two runs. Caden Monke (Arkansas) relieved Greenwood with two outs in the ninth and one on and, after allowing a single, retired the last batter on a lineout to close the Foresters win. Matthew Strother (UC Santa Barbara) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Ramirez for the Oaks, striking out two, Peyton Ebel (Greensboro) retired the side in order in the eight and Chris Torres (Moorpark JC) allowed two runs on two hits in the ninth to finish the Oaks pitching.
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Alameda, CA
The Lincoln Potters defeated the San Francisco Seals 12-4 tonight at Alameda College. Reports and statistics from this game were not available at post time.
June 30, 2019
San Luis Obispo, CA
Ryne Yamashiro (Cal Lutheran) hit a two-run, go-ahead home run with one out in the eighth inning to lead the Conejo Oaks to a 6-5 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues today at Sinsheimer Park. Yamashiro’s home run erased the Blues one-run lead and was setup when the second batter of the inning walked. It was not the first time in the game the Oaks had taken advantage of free bases. In fact, all four of their previous runs were scored in such circumstances. Conejo scored twice in the second inning when Jacob Castro (UC Irvine) walked to leadoff the inning, advanced to second on a Yamashiro single, advanced to third on another walk and scored on a wild pitch that also advanced Yamashiro, who scored shortly thereafter on a passed ball. They also scored two runs in the third inning when a Justin Ammons (Tennessee) bunt single and a hit batter put two runners on base with one out and, after Castro hit another single, an error on the play allowed both runners to score to give Conejo a 4-0 lead. Travis Weston, who started on the mound for the Oaks and opened with three scoreless innings, surrendered the only run of his five-inning outing when he walked the leadoff hitter to start the fourth inning and, after a single and another walk loaded the bases, a sacrifice fly made the score 4-1. Weston retired the side in order in the fifth inning and then turned the pitching duties over to Kyle Nicol (Cal Poly) to start the sixth. Nicol hit the first batter he faced, got two outs on a fielder’s choice and a line out but a two-run error and an RBI-double by Nick Hansen (Grand Canyon) tied the score 4-4. San Luis took the lead in their next at bat when a one-out walk put the go-ahead runner on base and a Taison Corio (Delta JC) RBI-single drove him in. Noah Huerta (Texas Tech), who relieved Blues starting pitcher Andrew Alvarez (Cal Poly) to start the fourth inning, and Evan Ingram (Hendrix) held the Oaks in check for four innings as the San Luis offense made their comeback. Huerta retired nine of the eleven batters he faced over three innings, allowing only one hit, and Ingram did similar in his one inning of relief of Huerta, allowing one two-out single in the seventh while retiring the three other batters he faced. Derek True (Cal Poly) pitched the last two innings for the Blues, striking out two and surrendering Yamashiro’s home run to suffer the loss. Aaron Suval (Glendale JC) pitched the seventh and eighth inning for Conejo and, after allowing the go-ahead run to score in the seventh and being spotted a one-run lead to start the eighth, Suval narrowly escaped allowing the Blues to tie the score when Tanner Lindsly (Oral Roberts) hit a leadoff single, advanced to second on a passed ball and, after Suval struck out the next two batters, Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts) singled to left field. Nico Lima (Oxnard CC), who fielded Swift’s single in left field, threw Lindsly out at home plate, however, to preserve the Oaks’ one-run lead and then Clay Rickerman (Cal Lutheran) pitched around two two-out singles in a scoreless ninth inning to close out the win for Conejo.
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Elsewhere around the CCL today:
Fairfield, CA
The Healdsburg Prune Packers swept a doubleheader today, beating the Solano Mudcats 11-6 and 8-3 today at Vanden High to extend their winning streak in league play to ten.
The Packers scored nine unanswered runs in their last two at bats to erase a 6-2 deficit to win 11-6 in the first game of the doubleheader. Seven Healdsburg batters in a row reached base safely with one out in the eighth inning, six of them scoring. Included in the rally was a two-run double Cal Conley (Texas Tech), an RBI-single by Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara) and three Solano errors. The Packers added three in the ninth on another Dicochea RBI-single and another Solano error to post the final score. Conley had plated the first run of the game with a fielder’s choice RBI in the second inning, but the Mudcats answered in their half of the inning, taking the lead 3-1 when Wesley Galloway (Sterling College) hit a two-run double and Wellington Balsley (Solano JC) hit a two-out RBI-single. Healdsburg got a leadoff home run from Cam Blake (Texas A&M) in the third inning to make the score 3-2, but Solano starting pitcher Caleb Hill (Savannah St) settled in to strand two runners on base in the third without incurring further damage and retired the last eleven batters he faced in his six-inning outing. By the time Hill left the game Solano was leading 6-2, having scored three two-out runs in the fifth inning on three singles, including an RBI-hit by Josh Medina (Sonoma St) and three walks. Healdsburg relief pitchers Chris Joaquim (UNLV), Devin Kirby and Jack Hinrichsen (Cal) held the Mudcats scoreless over the last four innings while waiting for the offense to mount a comeback, with Kirby picking up the win by pitching a scoreless eighth inning. Elijah Birdsong (Pacific) started on the mound for the Packers and struck out six over four innings and allowed three runs on three hits before Jackson Cunningham (Northridge) relieved him in the fifth.
The result was the same for Healdsburg in the second game of the doubleheader today, but the method was different, as the Packers led throughout the game in their 8-3 victory. Blake got things started for the Packers with a leadoff double to start the second inning and Joe Lampe (UC Davis) hit a two-run double two batters later to post a 2-0 lead. A Travis Turney (Portland) RBI-single in the third, a bases loaded hit batter and a wild pitch in the sixth, and a RBI-double by Dicochea, a sacrifice fly and Turney’s second RBI-single in the eighth accounted for the rest of Healdsburg’s runs. Trey Garlett (Texas Tech) started on the mound for the Packers and struck out four in five innings of work, allowing two runs when the first two batters of the third inning reached via a single and a walk, and both scored on an run-producing groundout and an RBI-single by Medina. Other than that two-run blemish, Garlett was stellar, striking out three of the four batters he faced in the first inning, retiring the side in order in the second and fifth innings, and pitching around the only other hit he allowed by retiring three of four batters in the fourth. Randy Polonia (UConn) relieved Garlett to start the sixth inning and went on to strikeout five over two scoreless innings, Spencer Hynes (Houston) pitched a scoreless eighth with one strikeout and Kevin Sandri (Pacific) pitched the ninth, allowing Solano’s third run on three hits, including Medina’s second RBI-single of the game. Nate Freeman (UC Davis) started on the mound for Solano and suffered the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out three in six innings. Ben Aguigui (Holy Names) pitched the last three innings and surrendered three runs on four hits.
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Compton, CA
Brooks Fuller (Auburn) retired the first ten batters he faced in order and threw four innings of one-hit baseball, Jake Burton (Arkansas) struck out the first three batters he faced and threw two hitless innings, Caden Monke (Arkansas) pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Brad Demco struck out the three batters he faced in the eighth to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 6-3 win over the Academy Barons today at the MLB Youth Academy. The four Foresters pitchers held the Barons in check while the Santa Barbara offense scored six unanswered runs. Nick Bellafronto (Stanford) gave Santa Barbara the early lead with an RBI-double in the first inning, Connor Pavlony (Tennessee) singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the second, and two walks, a single and a hit batter in the third forced in another run to make the score 3-0. All three runs were surrendered by Barons starting pitcher Brandon Mitchell (New Orleans) who went three innings and allowed four hits to suffer the loss. Noah Owen relieved Mitchell to start the fourth inning and struck out three of the four batters he faced in that inning, struck out one more in a scoreless fifth and pitched around a pair of two-out singles to pitch a scoreless seventh. Trevor Sutt (Long Beach CC) struck out two in each of the last three innings, but surrender three Foresters runs, one in the seventh inning when Christian Franklin (Arkansas) led off with a triple and scored on an error, and two in the ninth when a two-out error and three singles gave Santa Barbara a 6-0 lead. The Academy scored all three of their runs in the ninth inning when two walks, an RBI-single by Allante Hall, a sacrifice fly and an error made the final score 6-3
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Pasadena, CA
The Orange County Riptide scored six runs on six hits in the tenth inning to beat the Arroyo Seco Saints 10-5 tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Dylan Rock (UTSA), Andre Antone (UC Irvine) and Connor Aoki (Binghamton) led of the tenth inning with consecutive singles and Daniel Jung (Notre Dame) broke the 4-4 tie by hitting a bases loaded double that plated two runs. One out later, Trey Lipscomb (Tennessee) hit a two-run single and Carson Matthews (BYU) drove in one more with a single to give the Riptide a 10-4 lead. Desperate for pitching after playing a doubleheader yesterday in San Luis Obispo, Orange County turned to Antone and Lipscomb, who are primarily position players, to finish the game. Antone, appearing as a pitcher for the third time in CCL play, started the ninth inning and, after striking out the first batter he faced and retiring the second on a groundout, walked the next three batters and allowed one run on a passed ball before Lipscomb, appearing as a pitcher for the first time in CCL play, relieved Antone and struck out the only batter he faced to close out the win. The Riptide had gotten out to an early lead in this game, scoring two runs in their first at bat when an Antone RBI-single and an error gave them a 2-0 lead. Those two were the only runs allowed by Saints starting pitcher Hayden Harris (Georgia Southern) who threw three scoreless innings after the first and struck out four. Wesley Scott (Vanderbilt) was the starting pitcher for Orange County and threw three scoreless, hitless innings while striking out two before Devin Sutorius (Biola) relieved him to start the fourth inning. Thomas Luevano (USD) greeted Sutorius by hitting a home run to lead off the fourth, but Sutorius retired the next three batters, with the help of a double-play, to keep the Riptide in front 2-1. Matthews, who along with Luevano had a game-high three hits and three runs scored, walked and scored in the fifth inning to up the lead to 3-1, but an RBI-single by the Saints’ Andy Garriola (Old Dominion) and a sacrifice fly in the sixth knotted the game at 3-3. Both teams scored single runs in the seventh inning, Antonio Cruz (Rice) driving in Matthews from first base with a double for the Riptide, and Christian Scott (Tennessee) and Anthony Forte (Richmond) hitting consecutive singles, Scott stealing third base and scoring on a double-play groundball for the Saints. And both teams went hitless in the eighth and ninth innings to setup the extra-inning showdown. Taylor Pendley (Howard) and Noah Walker (Texas St) pitched two and three innings, respectively, for Orange County in relief of Sutorius, with Walker picking up the win as the pitcher of record when the six-run tenth inning rally happened. Alex Cornwell (USC), Grant Young (USF) and Luis Ramirez (Long Beach St) each pitched two innings for the Saints in relief of Harris, with Ramirez suffering the loss despite striking out the side in the ninth inning and notching two more in the tenth.
June 29, 2019
San Luis Obispo, CA
Blake Evans (Georgia Southern) went four-for-four with an RBI-double and a run scored, and Marrick Crouse thwarted a rally that featured three consecutive singles to leadoff the ninth inning to score one and put the tying run in scoring position with no outs to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 3-2 win over the San Luis Obispo Blues in the first game of a doubleheader tonight at Sinsheimer Park. Evans hit safely in each of his plate appearances in this seven-inning front end of the doubleheader, leading off the game with a single, driving in the Riptide’s first run in the third inning with a double that scored Chris Aubort (Hawaii-Hilo) who led off with a single, and scoring their second run in the same inning after an error to give Orange County a 2-1 lead. The Blues had scored first in the game, plating one run in their first at bat when Taison Corio (Delta JC), who had three hits in the game, drove in Ryan Cole (Notre Dame) who had singled to leadoff the first inning. Michael Defelippi (Pacific) stranded the bases loaded after Corio’s single, striking out the last batter of the inning to escape further damage and then threw two and third more innings scoreless before turning the pitching duties over to Andrew Davis who recorded the final out of the fourth inning, the first two of the fifth, but a single, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases and Orange County turned to Crouse to hold what had become a two-run lead after Eric Bigani (UNLV) singled in the fourth inning, advanced to third on a two-base error and scored on a run-producing groundout. Crouse escaped the bases loaded situation in the fifth inning by retiring the first batter he faced and pitched a scoreless sixth before Hunter Swift (Oral Roberts), Corio and TJ Rumfield (Texas Tech) hit consecutive singles to lead off the seventh. Crouse struck out the next two batters after Rumfield got the Blues to within one and retired the final batter on a pop-out to close out the Riptide win. Braeden Gowdy started on the mound for San Luis and surrendered all three Orange County runs on five hits while striking out four in four innings of work to suffer the loss. Tyler Chivens relieved Gowdy to start the fifth inning and allowed three hits while striking out two over three scoreless innings.
The second game of the doubleheader tonight was suspended in the tenth innings due to city restrictions with the score tied 3-3. The game will be resumed July 19 prior to the previously scheduled next meeting of the same two teams. The recaps and stats of that game will be posted upon the game’s completion.
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Elsewhere around the CCL tonight:
Pasadena, CA
Thomas Luevano (USD) had three hits and drove in four runs, Pete Derkay (Tennessee) hit a grand slam and added an RBI-single, and Anthony Forte (Richmond) hit a two-run home run and had three RBI to lead the Arroyo Seco Saints to a 15-10 win over the Conejo Oaks tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The three top performers for the Saints highlighted an 18-hit attack that scored runs in bunches tonight. They scored two runs in their first at bat when Luevano hit an RBI-double and scored on an Andy Garriola (Old Dominion) single, three in the second inning when Forte hit a run-producing groundout and Luevano hit a two-run single, seven in the fourth when Derkay and Forte hit their home runs and Nolan Tressler (Georgia Southern) added an RBI-single all before an out was recorded, and three in the seventh when David Reyna (Ark-Monticello), Garriola and Derkay had consecutive RBI-hits. The Oaks also scored runs in bunches and totaled an impressive eleven hits, but their ten-run offensive production was skewed a bit by five errors committed by the Saints in innings in which Conejo scored. In fact, the Oaks only recorded three run-producing hits, two RBI-singles by Gabe Baldovino (Ventura JC) and an RBI-single by Tyler Odekirk (Cal St LA). All seven of the other Conejo runs were scored via errors or run-producing groundouts. Michael Garza (Incarnate Word) was the starting pitcher tonight for Arroyo Seco and allowed seven runs on seven hits while striking out four in a five-inning stint. Oaks starting pitcher Carson Carter (Texas Tech) had a similar outing, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out one over three innings. The pitching highlights tonight belonged to the relievers. Zach Griggs (UTSA) struck out three in his one inning of work and Michael Hendricks (Lee) struck out two in one inning for the Saints, while Guillermo Pinedo threw three scoreless innings of relief for the Oaks.
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Healdsburg, CA
Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara) hit a pair of home runs and drove in seven runs, Kenny Haus (UConn) pitched five innings of one-hit baseball and he, Hunter Mayo (Houston) and Griffin Hattingh allowed a combined three hits over nine innings while they received 19 runs on 18 hits in support, including a five-for-five performance by Cal Conley (Texas Tech) and three-hit games from four others, to lead the Healdsburg Prune Packers to a 19-3 thrashing of the Solano Mudcats tonight at Recreation Park. Dicochea hit an RBI-double in his first at bat, a two-run home run in his second, a run-producing groundout in his third and a three-run home run in his fourth to amass the seven-run production. Haus started on the mound for Healdsburg and held the Mudcats hitless until two outs in his last inning of work when Eric Robles (Sterling College) doubled in the fifth. Haus allowed a total of six baserunners in five innings, four by walks, one by a hit batter and one on Robles’ hit, but escaped damage each time until the leadoff walk he issued in the fifth scored on Robles’ double. Mayo also only allowed one Solano hit in his two innings of relief of Haus, but surrendered two runs, one in the sixth when Isaiah Verret (UC Davis) doubled and later scored on an infield groundout, and one in the seventh when Mayo hit two batters and walked two batters to force in a run. Hattingh finished the dominant Healdsburg pitching by tossing two scoreless innings while allowing only the Mudcats third hit, a two-out single by Justin Banks (Coppin St) in the eighth. While this was going on the Packers offense was scoring runs in bunches. They scored five runs in their first at bat on RBI-doubles by Dicochea, Cam Blake (Texas A&M) and John Lagattuta (Cal), two in the second inning, two in the third, four in the fifth and seventh and one each in the sixth and eighth. Conley, who also walked once, reached base safely in all six of his plate appearances and scored five runs. He, Dicochea, Blake, Lagattuta and Joe Lampe (UC Davis) each finished the game with three or more hits.
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Santa Barbara, CA
Eric Kennedy (Texas) hit two home runs and a double to drive in five runs, Christian Franklin (Arkansas) homered, tripled and hit an RBI-single to drive in four, and Luke Taggert (Incarnate Word) struck out eight in a five-inning start to lead the Santa Barbara Foresters to a 12-6 win over the Academy Barons tonight at Pershing Park. Kennedy hit his first home run with two outs and nobody on in the third inning. It was the first hit Barons’ starting pitcher Elijah Pleasants allowed, having been spotted a two-run lead when Basiel Williams Jr. (Jones JC) hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a 3-1 lead after Williams hit a two-out RBI-double in the fifth. Pleasants had retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before Kennedy’s first homer and retired four of the next five before a one-out single by Tevin Tucker (West Virginia) started a four-run rally in the fifth inning for Santa Barbara. Kennedy’s second home run drove in Tucker with two outs to tie the score and, after an error extended the inning, Franklin hit his home run to give the Foresters a 5-3 lead. Taggert retired 14 of the 17 batters he faced between Williams’ first two hits, striking out seven and allowing two other hits, a two-out double by Christian Lucio (Eastern Kentucky) whom he stranded in the fourth, and a two-out single by Trent Anderson in the fifth, who scored when Williams hit his double. Taggert struck out the last batter he faced to end the fifth inning then turned the pitching duties over to Nico O’Donnell (Texas), who pitched a one-two-three sixth inning but issued a pair of walks to start the seventh and was relieved by Elijah Trest (Arkansas). Trest struck out two in the inning but a fielder’s choice and a Williams two-run single plated three and gave the Barons a 6-5 lead. The Foresters answered in their next at bat, however, tying the score when Franklin hit an RBI-triple, and taking the lead when two runs scored after an error and two wild pitches. Hunter Breault (Oregon) pitched the last two innings for Santa Barbara scoreless, striking out two in each inning to close out the win. The Foresters blew the game open with four runs in the eighth inning when Kennedy hit a two-run double, Franklin hit a run-scoring single and Conor McKenna (Oklahoma) hit an RBI-double.