July 17, 2018 La Mirada, CA Jacob Rogers (UNLV) had three hits, including a two-run home run, Omar Ortiz (Cochise College) had two hits, including a solo home run and the Southern California Catch snapped their ten-game losing streak by beating the Academy Barons 9-4 today at Biola University. Rogers hit his home run with two outs in the seventh inning, driving in Kristian Franklin (Grambling St), who had singled to lead off the inning to give the Catch a 5-2 lead. Ortiz' home run put the Catch on the scoreboard in the second inning, tying the score at 1-1 after Joseph Argumedo (Lynn) hit a solo shot of his own in the Barons' half of the inning. The score remained unchanged until the sixth inning when the Academy took the lead on a Hunter Lewis (Indiana State) RBI-single, but the Catch took the lead for good in their half of the inning when Grant Robbins (UNLV) and Jake Boone (Princeton) led off the inning with a single and a double, respectively, and an Ortiz groundball out scored one and a sacrifice fly scored another to make the score 3-2. Tayt Smith (Azusa Pacific) started on the mound for the Catch, allowing only the one Barons run in the second while striking out five over five innings before turning the pitching duties over to Taed Heydinger, who surrendered the sixth inning run, Matt Reitz (Covenant College), who pitched a scoreless seventh and was pulled after one batter in the eighth after allowing a leadoff single to Desmond Gates (West LA JC), who would score later on an wild pitch, and Caleb Bly (Oklahoma Baptist). Anthony Mayorga, the third pitcher utilized in the seventh inning by the Catch, came into the game after Gates scored, struck out two of the next three batters in the inning to limit the damage, and then pitched the ninth inning to close out the win despite allowing a run on two singles. The Catch added four insurance runs in the eighth inning when Boone and Ortiz led off the inning with consecutive singles and, after two outs were recorded, Daniel Jung (Notre Dame) and Wacy Crenshaw each hit two-run singles to up the Catch total to nine. Gavin Stroud (Tulane) started on the mound for the Academy, allowing one run on four hits while striking out two over four innings. Click here for recaps of this game Elsewhere in the CCL today: Pasadena, CA Brandon Lewis (UC Irvine) hit a home run, a triple and a double and drove in three runs, Bart West (USC) hit a home run, a single and scored twice, and a trio of relief pitchers bent but did not break, stranding seven runners, five in scoring position over the final four innings to lead the Conejo Oaks to a 7-5 win over the Arroyo Seco Saints tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Lewis, the league's top hitter with a .420 average, was a single shy of hitting for the cycle. His home run, a solo shot in the third inning, got the Oaks their first run to make the score 2-1 after the Saints took the first lead on a second inning two-run home run by Angelo Armenta (San Diego St). The Saints answered Lewis' home run with two more runs in their half of the third inning, scoring on a Nic Lacayo (Michigan St) RBI-double and Armenta driving in his third run of the game with a two-out single. Conejo took the lead for good in their next at bat when West hit his home run and, after two walks and a fielder's choice, Lewis drove in two with his triple and then scored on a Jordan McFarland (Arkansas) single to make the score 5-4. Aiden Dolan, who was the starting pitcher for the Oaks, striking out three in five innings, retired the last seven batters he faced, including one on the bases after reaching on an error to earn the win, before turning the pitching duties over to the bullpen. Eric Ma (Whitman College) was the first Oaks reliever, pitching around two singles and a walk to strand two in a scoreless sixth inning and, after surrendering a leadoff home run in the seventh to Tristan Peterson, struck out one batter and walked another before being relieved by Jackson Simonsgaard (Roger St), who pitched around a catcher's interference and a walk to strand three runners without further damage. Simonsgaard recorded one out and allowed a single in the eighth inning before Angus Denton (Arkansas) took over pitching, and Denton retired the first two batters he faced to strand a runner in scoring position and then pitched a scoreless ninth, stranding another runner in scoring position, to close out the win. Conejo had scored their winning margin runs in the fifth inning when Zach Kaminkow (UNLV) singled to drive in West, who had singled, and then Kaminkow scored on an error. Click here for recaps of this game