July 23, 2016 Santa Barbara, CA The Santa Barbara Foresters shaved one game off their magic number to clinch the CCL Central Division title and receive an automatic berth to the CCL playoffs next weekend by blanking the San Luis Obispo Blues 8-0 tonight at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Kevin Johnston (Texas) started and pitched seven scoreless innings, scattering five hits while striking out six, Hunter Stovall (Mississippi St) hit a three-run home run in the second inning, and Brett Boswell (Texas) added three hits to lead the Foresters. The win improved Santa Barbara's record in league play to 19-11 and decreases their magic number to clinch the division to one with three games remaining in their regular season schedule. With today's loss the Blues fall to 14-13, three and a half games back of the Foresters in the chase for the division title with four games left to be decided on their schedule, but only one game behind the Conejo Oaks, who won today in Ventura, for the wildcard race. Two games between the Blues and Foresters will be decided tomorrow as the June 22 game between the two teams that was suspended because of darkness with the score tied 2-2 will be completed prior to the regularly scheduled game in Santa Barbara. See the boxscore/recap here. Also in the CCL today: Ventura, CA The Conejo Oaks overcame a 3-1 deficit with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to beat the Ventura Halos 4-3 today at Ventura College. The win moved the Oaks into the lead of the wildcard race lead with an 18-15 record, percentage points better than the Healdsburg Prune Packers and Menlo Park Legends, both of whom won tonight. Isaiah Campbell (Arkansas) started on the mound for Conejo and had eight strikeouts and didn't allow a walk over six innings of work. Campbell did allow three runs to the Halos in his last inning, a hot and cold sixth where he had three strikeouts but allowed five singles, so did not figure in the decision. In the seventh inning Chad Spanberger (Arkansas) led off with his third triple of the summer and scored on an fly out by Chad Bible (San Diego St), and Codi Santana (Hawaii Pacific) singled and then scored on a Max Weinstein (Cal Lutheran) double to tie the score. In the next inning Bible came through again, this time with a two-out single that scored Jake Arledge (Arkansas) who had singled earlier. Joe Torres (Glendale JC) was the pitcher of record for the Oaks today, earning the win by pitching a scoreless seventh inning, and Robby Medel (Arizona) pitched the final two innings, holding the Halos scoreless while striking out three, to earn the save. The Halos, who got a two-RBI game from Mike Volaski (Rider), fall to 12-20 with the loss. See the boxscore/recap here. Irvine, CA The first place Academy Barons split a doubleheader today with the Southern California Catch, trading 4-3 scores, the Barons winning the opener and the Catch winning the nightcap. Jonah Dean-Hargroves (Jackson St) singled to lead off the seventh inning and scored what would prove to be the winning run after advancing to third on an error and then scoring on a passed ball. Henry Omana (Cal Poly Pomona) was the starting pitcher for the Academy but did not figure in the decision, coming out of the game after allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Reece Buska relieved Omana in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning and a third to pick up the win. Jimmy Gallarda (Biola) went the distance on the mound for the Catch (seven innings), allowing six hits with two strikeouts to suffer the loss. Caleb Potter (West Virginia) hit his fourth home run of the summer, and Rawley Hughes (Biola) had two hits to lead the Catch offense. See the boxscore/recap here. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Catch took and early 3-0 lead against the Academy and, then, after scoring another run in the seventh, held off the second ninth inning Barons rally of the day to win 4-3. Catch closer Nick Wernke (West Virgina) earned the save by pitching the ninth and was, at first, let down by the defense behind him as an error let the lead-off hitter get on base and eventually score, and then saved by the defense as the tying run was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Christian Deaton (Cal St Bakersfield) to end the game. Josh Barrick (Liberty U) had three hits, including a double, and an RBI, Zach Malis (Grand Canyon) had two hits and drove in two runs, and Josh Rojas (Hawaii) had two hits and scored twice to lead the Catch offense. James Stea (Valparaiso) and Sam Shaikin (Valparaiso) each had two hits to lead the Barons. See the boxscore/recap here. With a split of the doubleheader the Barons record moves to 22-9 and the record for the Catch now stands at 16-17. Having already clinched the CCL South Division title, the Barons are automatically in the CCL playoffs. The Catch, however, fell slightly behind in their quest for a wildcard berth to the playoffs as the Conejo Oaks, the current wildcard leader, won earlier today. Healdsburg, CA Steve Wilson (Santa Clara), Jordan Scheftz and Andrew Vaughn (Cal) had a combined 15 strikeouts as the Healdsburg Prune Packers shutout the Walnut Creek Crawdads 2-0 tonight at Recreation Park. The win keeps the Packers' wildcard hopes alive. At 13-11 in league play, they trail the Conejo Oaks, who also won tonight, by three percentage points with two league games left on the Healdsburg schedule. Both of Healdsburg's remaining CCL games, Tuesday at Menlo Park and Wednesday at Neptune Beach will be must win games. If the Packers were to win only one of these two games, the Conejo Oaks would have to lose two of their last three for the Packers to qualify as the wildcard team for the playoffs next weekend in Compton. And, if the game they lose is the one against Menlo Park, and Menlo Park goes on to win its three remaining games, then the Legends will be the wildcard team. San Luis Obispo and the Southern California Catch also have paths to cinch up the wildcard slot. But, tonight, Healdsburg did what it needed to do. Billy Wilson (Loyola Marymount) led the bottom of the first inning off with a single and, after stealing second base, scored on single by Dan James (USF). The Packers then waited until the seventh inning to get an insurance run when Tyler Meditz (Santa Clara) led the inning off with a single, moved to second on a single by Jamey Smart (Loyola Marymount) and scored on a Kenny Corey (UC Santa Barbara) single. Corey finished the game with a game-high three hits, one a double. See the boxscore/recap here. Oakland, CA The Menlo Park Legends kept their hopes alive for a wildcard berth in the CCL playoffs next weekend in Compton with a 1-0 win over the Neptune Beach Pearl tonight at Laney College. Details of the game were not available at post time but the win improves the Legends record in CCL play to 12-11, a game and a half behind the wildcard leading Conejo Oaks who won in Ventura tonight. With three league games remaining on their schedule, Menlo Park faces a must win in each as Conejo, also with three games remaining, would have to lose at least once for an opportunity to open up for the Legends. If the Legends were to lose just once more, than a series of events would have to turn just right for them to reach the playoffs. Neptune Beach, however, clinched the CCL North Division title last night and are assured a spot in the playoffs. Irvine, CA Tommy Bell (Cal Baptist) hit a two-run double in the first inning, Dillon Kelley (Chico St) hit a solo home run in the fifth and JJ Carr had an RBI-double in the seventh to lead the Orange County Riptide to a 5-3 win over the Long Beach Legends today at Concordia University. Carr, Kelley and Laine Huffman (Long Beach St) each had two hits to lead the Riptide. Long Beach got a three-hit performance from Joe Van Marter (Houston Baptist), and two hits each from Paul Estrada (Utah Valley St) and Nathan Keavy (Loyola Marymount), all three of whom hit a double. The win sets the Orange County record in CCL play at 14-17 and, with the loss, Long Beach falls to 13-20. See the boxscore/recap here. The 2016 CCL Playoff format and schedule can be viewed here.