By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA - The Santa Barbara City College Baseball team (17-4) inched closer to a conference championship on Saturday, beating Ventura 7-4.
The Vaqueros were thankful for their opponent's performance a few days prior—Ventura handed Cuesta 2 one-run losses on Thursday. Earlier in the week, SBCC walked off Cuesta in a crucial matchup between the WSC-North's best.
SBCC's magic number to clinch a conference title is now 1.
Saturday's game was a sloppy one, but resulted in a Vaqueros win nonetheless. Just 3 of the 11 combined runs were driven in on hits.
Bradley Johnson got the start on the mound, and navigated around a tough 1st inning. The first five batters went walk, walk, strikeout, walk, strikeout. A passed ball and a wild pitch gave the visitors an early 2-0 lead, before another walk and a fly out got the Vaqueros out of the inning.
SBCC dug themselves out of the deficit immediately, though, with 3 singles, a sacrifice bunt, and another single tying the score. Vince Gamberdella's RBI groundout gave the Vaqs a 3-2 lead.
After settling in for a clean 2nd and 3rd, Johnson allowed a single and walk to start the 4th. An error on a pickoff attempt then brought runners on second and third with nobody out. Ventura would only bring one of the runs home on a sacrifice fly, the Vaqueros escaping further damage.
Only getting through 4, Johnson had a peculiar line of 3 runs allowed (2 earned) with just 1 hit but 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts.
In the bottom half of the 4th, two singles and a sacrifice bunt similarly put runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs. Ethan Watson's RBI groundout gave SBCC the lead back, 4-3.
Jordan Rico came on in relief and pitched the 5th and 6th innings. He allowed 2 hits but no runs, earning a needed hold for SBCC.
Ventura hit 3 SBCC batters in the bottom of the 5th, the third of which with the bases loaded. It gave Gamberdella an RBI, and SBCC added to their lead—5-3 Vaqs.
The Vaqueros then made themselves a little more comfortable in the 6th. After Watson's double and Daniel Ghiorso's walk, Ethan Rodriguez doubled to score Watson. Presley Kosciusko's sacrifice fly made it 7-3, scoring Ghiorso.
Jake Thrift pitched a 1-2-3 7th, but allowed a run in the 8th on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4. Shane McMahon relieved him with a runner on third, tasked with a 4-out save. He struck out the first batter he faced to end the inning and prevent Ventura from getting any closer.
The 9th was thankfully uneventful, as McMahon was lights out with 2 more strikeouts and a fly out to end the game at the 7-4 score.
Rodriguez, Kosciusko, and Gamberdella each accounted for 3 runs apiece, either scoring them or driving them in.
Checking in on the WSC-North standings, the Vaqueros are in the driver's seat. After Cuesta's trio of losses, they beat Hancock on Friday. Oxnard then upset Hancock on Saturday on the road to benefit the Vaqueros even further.
The magic number now at 1, either an SBCC win or Cuesta AND Hancock losses would suffice for the Vaqueros. More simply, a win over Hancock on Tuesday at Pershing Park would crown the Vaqueros conference champions.
