July 1, 2016
Anaheim, CA
The Conejo Oaks hitters felt what it was like to bat against the best pitchers in college baseball today, managing only one hit in a 6-0 lost to the US Collegiate National Team at Angels Stadium. Chad Spanberger’s (Arkansas) double off of J.B. Bukauskas (North Carolina) was the lone bright spot for the Oaks offense. On the other hand, Conejo’s pitchers fared a bit better. Starter Isaiah Campbell (Arkansas) went five innings and only allowed a pair of hits and one run against the best hitters in college baseball, and the next four relievers the Oaks sent out managed about the same, allowing only two more hits over the next three innings. It wasn’t until the ninth inning, with Logan Gillaspie (Oxnard JC) on the mound that the National Team broke the game open with three runs on two hits and two walks.
“It was a great atmosphere against a very talented team,” Oaks Manager David Soliz said after the game. “Going into the ninth the hit totals were three to one. We hung with them until the ninth.”
The National Team’s pitching was the story for sure tonight. Bukauskas, Tim Cate (UConn) and Tyler Johnson (North Carolina) were dominant, recording a combined 14 strikeouts.
The National Team plays its final exhibition game against the CCL tomorrow as they take on the Academy Barons at 1pm at the MLB Urban Youth Academy.

July 1, 2016
San Luis Obispo, CA
The San Luis Obispo Blues posted an 8-7 walk-off win over the Menlo Park Legends tonight at Sinsheimer Park, scoring the winning run without getting a hit. With one out and the score tied in the ninth inning, Garrett Dodd (Louisiana Tech) got on base as the third strike of his at bat got away from the catcher. He then stole second base, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored the winning run on a wild pitch. It was painful way to lose for the Legends who, trailing 7-3 going into the eighth inning, rallied for four runs to tie the score. The Blues had gotten to Legends starter Jacob Wilcox (UT Arlington) early, scoring seven runs on nine hits. Gene Wood (Alabama) led the Blues with three hits and three RBI, while Dodd and Blake Johnson (Alabama-Birmingham) each had two hits, Johnson’s day including a triple and two RBI. Dan Beavers (Chico State) picked up the win in relief for the Blues who improved to 6-7 in league play, while Menlo Park fell to 4-6. See the boxscore/recap here.

Also today in the CCL:
Compton, CA
Ernie De la Trinidad, who is hitting .472 overall this summer and .453 in league, had another outstanding day at the plate tonight in the Academy Barons 6-4 win over the Long Beach Legends at the MLB Urban Youth Academy. De la Trinidad went four-for-four, had a RBI and scored three times to lead the Barons offense, while teammate Martin Teague (Hope Int) the league’s RBI leader with 22 (32 overall this summer) added two hits and two RBI. It is another case of the same hitters leading a potent offense that has the Barons on top of the CCL standings with a 12-4 record. A day after the Academy used nine pitchers in their exhibition versus the US Collegiate National Team and Angels Stadium, seven were employed in tonight’s game, limiting the Long Beach batters to four hits while striking out six. John Montgomery (Eastern Michigan) did have a solo home run for the Legends. See the boxscore/recap here.

Santa Barbara,CA
In the first of a three-game series matchup of two of the three divisional leading teams in the CCL, the Neptune Beach Pearl of the CCL North division beat the Santa Barbara Foresters of the CCL Central 4-2 today at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Pearl, last season’s league champion, scored single runs in four different innings to earn the win and were led by three-hit performances by Clayton Andrews (Cabrillo JC) and Lucas Halstead (Pacific), each of whom also had a RBI. The Foresters also got a three-hit game from Kyle Isbel (UNLV). With the win Neptune Beach improved to 9-4 in league play while the Foresters fell to 12-6. See the boxscore/recap here.

June 30, 2016
Anaheim, CA
The Academy Barons traveled to Angels Stadium in Anaheim tonight to play the US Collegiate National Team in the third of five exhibition games the US team is playing against the CCL. The Barons were held scoreless by the dominant pitching of the country’s top amateur arms, managing four hits in a 5-0 loss. The National Team’s pitchers, as they have in the previous two games against the Santa Barbara Foresters Tuesday and Wednesday are in the process of showing the National Team’s coaching staff they are ready to be part of the rotation that the squad will take to international competitions against Taiwan, Japan and Cuba. Tonight the Barons faced Alex Faedo (Florida), Ricky Tyler Thomas (Fresno State), Tyler Johnson (South Carolina), Luis Gonzalez (New Mexico) and Glenn Otto (Rice and a CCL alum of the 2015 Foresters). Combined, the five National Team pitchers struck out 12 Barons and issued no walks. Reggie Southall recorded the Barons’ first base hit, a single with two in the fourth, but, after he stole second base, he was left stranded in scoring position. Cody Den Beste (Prairie View A&M) had a leadoff single in the fourth inning, but he was later erased on a groundball double play. Sam Shaikin and Keyon Allen (UNLV) had the two other Barons hits but neither threatened to score. On the mound, the Barons gave nine different pitchers an inning each to face the country’s best hitters. As a group, the nine pitchers allowed the five runs on 12 hits, and combined for six strikeouts and five walks.

June 30, 2016
Irvine, CA
The Orange County Riptide gave up eight runs to the Southern California Catch today before they even had a chance to come to bat, but on the strength of a pair of two-run home runs by Chase Goldwater (Mississippi State) and Dillon Kelley (Chico State) and a big inning of their own, the Riptide came back to beat the Catch 11-10 at Concordia University. Goldwater and Kelley’s home runs came in the second and third innings respectively, but it was the fourth inning, when the Riptide would rally with two outs and nobody on and then have seven consecutive batters reach base, that Orange County would score six runs and take a lead they would not relinquish. See the boxscore/recap here.

Also today in the CCL:
Healdsburg, CA
The Healdsburg Prune Packers offense feasted tonight on the pitching of the Walnut Creek Crawdads, collecting 19 runs on 19 hits en route to a 19-4 drubbing at Recreation Park. Details of the game were not available at post time.

June 29, 2016
Santa Barbara, CA
Kyle Johnston (Texas) matched pitch-for-pitch with the best arms in college baseball today, and against the best hitters, shutting out the US Collegiate National Team for five innings at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium before allowing back-to-back doubles and leaving the game tied at 1-1 after six, the score that the game would finish at after ten innings. Johnston, who struck out six and walked none on the day, was masterful through the first four innings, facing the minimum 12 batters, and then magical in the fifth, when he wrangled out from runners on first and third with no outs by striking out the next two hitters and getting a weak pop up for the third out. After getting another strikeout to start the sixth inning, Johnston gave up consecutive doubles to TJ Friedl (Nevada) and Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) before getting two groundouts to shut down the threat. The Foresters, who were beaten by the National Team 10-6 at Dodgers Stadium the day before, captured a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning off of National Team starting pitcher Tanner Houck (Missouri) by way of a lead off home run by Hunter Williams (Tulane). Williams home run was one of only two hits allowed by Houck, who was followed on the mound by David Peterson (Oregon), who had five strikeouts in three innings of relief, J.B. Bukauskas (North Carolina) and Kyle Nelson, who was pitching on his home turf of UC Santa Barbara. In total, the Foresters managed four hits and the National Team had seven. The exhibition game, which was attended by about one hundred scouts (literally) and a packed stadium, was called during the 10th inning due to an injury.

June 29, 2016
Healdsburg, CA
Turner Bishop (Old Dominion) had seven RBI today to lead the Menlo Park Legends to a 16-5 win over the Healdsburg Prune Packers at Recreation Park. Turner’s run-producing performance, which included a two-run double in the fourth inning, a grand slam in the fifth and an RBI-single in the sixth, is the CCL-best single game RBI total this season. Of course, with 16 runs on 20 hits, there were other Legends with big games today, including Chandler Bengston (Columbia) who had a three-for-five day, including a home run; and Nick Brooks (Gonzaga) who doubled and scored four times. See the boxscore/recap here.

Also today in the CCL:
Oakland, CA
The Neptune Beach Pearl swept a doubleheader today at Laney College, beating the Walnut Creek Crawdads 7-3 and 4-1. The wins, coupled with a loss today for the Healdsburg Prune Packers, vaulted the Pearl into the top position in the CCL’s North Division with a 7-4 record and third overall in the league-wide standings. In the first game, Walker Pennington (Texas A&M) and Baylor Rowlett (Oklahoma State) each had home runs and Brady Bate (USF) had a double and a single to lead the Pearl. Bate starred in the second game of the doubleheader as well, belting his second home run of the summer in the fourth inning and, when he hit a triple in the fifth inning, he ended up hitting for the cycle on the day. Noah Gotsis (Regis) started the second game and had six strikeouts in five innings to pick up the win. See the Game 1 boxscore/recap here. See the Game 2 boxscore/recap here.

Ventura, CA
The Academy Barons maintained the top spot in the CCL today by beating the Ventura Halos at Ventura College 5-0. Sitting atop the league with an 11-4 record, percentage points ahead of the 12-5 Santa Barbara Foresters who played a nonleague exhibition against the US Collegiate National Team today, the Barons were led by the performances of hitters who have become familiar in the league this summer for their consistency. Ernie De la Trinidad who has been hitting over .400 all summer, had three hits today, including a two-run home run, and Aaron Cisneros (UC Riverside), who was last summer’s home run leader in the CCL and has been a top run-producer again this summer, had a double and two RBI. Five Barons pitchers combined for the shutout, allowing six hits as a group with as many strikeouts. Wesley Albert (Lee University) pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. See the boxscore/recap here.
It will be the Barons turn to play an exhibition against the US Collegiate National Team tomorrow at Angels Stadium. Game time is 6:30pm.

Long Beach, CA
The Long Beach Legends and the Orange County Riptide each won a game today at Long Beach City College, the Legends winning the resumption of their June 11 game that was suspended due to darkness and the Riptide winning the regularly scheduled game 5-3. The resumed game finished quickly, in one at bat for each team, as Long Beach held the Riptide scoreless for one-half inning and then scored in the next half on a two-out bases loaded walk in what was the 13th inning of the June 11 game. See the Game 1 boxscore/recap here.
In the regularly scheduled game, the Riptide scored three runs in the seventh inning on four singles, a hit batsman and a fielder’s choice to erase a 3-2 deficit. Tanner Murphey had nine strikeouts in five-plus innings to lead Orange County. See the Game 2 boxscore/recap here.

June 28, 2016
Los Angeles, CA
In the first of two exhibition games against the top amateur team in the country, if not the world, the Santa Barbara Foresters lost to the US Collegiate National Team 10-6 today at Dodgers Stadium. The Foresters, managing eleven hits on the US team, were undone by a seven-run third inning that saw the first seven National Team hitters reach base (five singles, a home run by Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt), and a walk) before an out was recorded. Trailing 8-0 at that point, Santa Barbara cut into the lead with three runs in the fifth inning on four consecutive singles of their own–Matt Henderson’s (Florida State) bases-loaded single driving in two–and a fielder’s choice. Dylan Paul (Texas State) would single and score a run for the Foresters in the sixth inning and Hunter Williams (Tulane) would add two sacrifice fly RBI in the seventh and ninth, both times driving in Kyle Isbel (UNLV) to finish out Santa Barbara’s scoring. Kendall and KJ Harrison (Oregon State) each had three RBI to lead the National Team which racked up 17 hits in the game, including a four-for-six day by Evan White (Kentucky). The National Team, of course, features the best amateur pitchers in the country as well. Today the Foresters faced Kyle Wright (Vanderbilt), Zach Warren (Tennessee), Ricky Tyler Thomas (Fresno State), Glenn Otto (Rice) and Tyler Johnson (South Carolina) a formidable lineup of arms for any team.
The same two teams will play an exhibition tomorrow at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium at UC Santa Barbara beginning at 5pm. The National Team will also meet the Academy Barons, 6:30pm Thursday at Angels Stadium; the Conejo Oaks, 3:30 Friday at Angels Stadium; and the Academy Barons again, 1pm Saturday at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton

June 28, 2016
Ventura, CA
Austin Russ (USC) hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning today to give the Ventura Halos a walk-off victory over the Orange County Riptide at Ventura College. Russ drove in Derek Rodigo (Westmont), who had three hits in the game including a lead-off double to open the ninth inning. The Riptide had rallied back from a 6-1 deficit, scoring four times in the eighth inning, the big hit being a three-run home run by Chris Prescott (Michigan), and scoring once in the top of the ninth to even the score at 6-6, but the Halos answered with a rally of their own. See the boxscore/recap here.

Also today in the CCL:
Long Beach, CA
Like the earlier CCL game in Ventura, the Long Beach Legends had a walk-off victory at their home park today, beating the Conejo Oaks 6-5 at Long Beach City College. Aaron Case had the game-winning hit, driving in Nico Olivera (La Salle), who had drawn a one-out walk and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch before Case’s game-winner. Brandon Brintz (Houston Baptist) had a pair of doubles in the game, and Trevor Casanova (Lane JC) had a double and three RBI to lead the Legends. Biagio Schutt (Marymount) started on the mound for Long Beach and had seven strikeouts in five-plus innings, but allowed three runs on eight hits and did not figure in the decision. Eric Ramirez (Hawaii) had three hits to lead the Oaks and improved his in-conference best batting average to .481. See the boxscore/recap here.

June 26, 2016
La Mirada, CA
The Academy Barons acted as if they took it personal that the Southern California Catch snapped their six game winning streak last night by pounding out eight extra base hits in a rematch between the two teams today at Biola Univesity, winning 17-2 and staying atop the CCL standings with a half-game lead and a record of 10-4. James Stea (Valparaiso) had two of the extra base hits, a home run and a double, to pace the Barons who totaled 14 hits on the day, and Martin Teague (Hope Int) added a double of his own and added two more RBI, upping his league-leading total to 30. See the boxscore/recap here.

Also today in the CCL:
Santa Barbara, CA
The Santa Barbara Foresters scored eight runs in the first inning in their series finale against the Walnut Creek Crawdads today at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, but only had one hit, a big one, a grand slam by Kyle Isbel (UNLV) , as the Foresters went on to win the game 14-7, sweep the series and remain a half-game behind the Academy Barons for the top spot in the CCL standings with a 12-5 record. Santa Barbara batted around in the first inning by way of seven walks, two hit batsmen and a fielding error by the Crawdads, all but one of which eventually scored. Isbel ended up with six RBI on three hits, and Matt Henderson (Florida State) also tallied three hits. Tanner Lawson (Houston) had five strikeouts in five innings on the mound to pick up the win. See the boxscore/recap here.

Ventura, CA
With the score tied, the Ventura Halos scored three unearned runs in their last at bat to take a 5-2 lead against the Conejo Oaks today at Ventura College, and then handed the ball to Josh Kubiske (Cal State East Bay) who got the last three outs, two on strikeouts, to secure the win. The Halos, who improved to 8-7 in league play, got multiple-hit games from Patrick Britt (Binghampton), Blake Chiaramonte (Ventura JC) and Mike Volaski. The loss gives the Oaks an 11-6 league record, a half-game out of first place. See the boxscore/recap here.

June 25, 2016
Compton, CA
The Southern California Catch bounced back from a stomach virus that had infected about half their team on a missionary trip to Mexico earlier this week and broke the Academy Barons six-game winning streak with a 7-5 win tonight at the MLB Urban Youth Academy. The Catch, which outhit the Barons tonight 10 hits to eight, a feat that hasn’t happened to the Barons since early in the season, were led by Jacob Barrick (Liberty) , a home run, double and two RBI; Evan Sandmann (Dallas Baptist), a double and three RBI; and Zach Malis (Grand Canyon), a home run and single. Martin Teague (Hope Int) continued his hot hitting for the Barons, belting a pair of home runs, giving him four on the season and a share of the league lead, and driving in his league-best 28th RBI. See the boxscore/recap here.

Also today in the CCL:
Santa Barbara, CA
The Santa Barbara Foresters racked up 10 runs in the first four innings in their matchup with the Walnut Creek Crawdads today and cruised to a 10-2 win. Bret Boswell (Texas) hit his fourth home run of the summer and three of his teammates had multiple RBI games, including Keston Hiura (UC Irvine) who had a four-for-four day with two RBI. Zach Esquivel (Rice) picked up the win on the mound for Santa Barbara, scattering four hits over six innings. See the boxscore/recap here.

Thousand Oaks, CA
The Conejo Oaks won their fourth straight league game today, 6-2 over the Ventura Halos at Sparky Anderson Field, and improved their league record to 11-5, a half-game behind the first place Academy Barons. Anthony Lepre (Canyons College (JC)) had a three-for-four day, including hitting a double and his first home run of the summer to lead the Oaks, and Kyle Sanchez (Cal) also went three-for-four. Isaiah Campbell (Arkansas) picked up the win on the mound for the Oaks, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four in six innings. See the boxscore/recap here.