Jacob Bravo and Jarred Greene got things going with solo homers in the first inning on Saturday and Matthew Strother tossed seven solid relief innings as SBCC blanked Cerro Coso 8-0 for its second straight shutout.
The Vaqueros (6-4) were slumping last weekend when they scored just one run in 20 innings. Since then, they've piled up 28 runs in three games. Cerro Coso, which entered with a .304 team batting average, fell to 4-7.
Greene, a sophomore outfielder from Anaheim Hills, went 3-4 with his first homer, a double, two RBIs and two runs. Bravo homered for the second straight home game and has three for the season. He went 2-4 with two RBIs and three runs.
Both players are left-handed and hit their home runs to nearly the same spot high over the right-field fence.
"It was nice to have the wind blowing in our favor for once," said Bravo, with a laugh. "I hit a fastball in. We've got confidence now. When one person scores, we all score. This is a great way to go into league."
Baseball: Jacob Bravo RBI single over 2B head scores Ryan Guardino. Bravo is 2-2 with HR & 2 RBIs. Vaqueros lead 3-0 in the third. pic.twitter.com/ovOg7rj2Ly
— SBCCVaqueros (@SBCCVaqueros) February 15, 2020
Greene reached base four times. He homered in the first, hit a deep out to the left-field fence in the third, walked in the fifth, singled to right in the sixth and doubled to left-center in the eighth. Greene raised his average to .333.
"I saw how they pitched Jacob in his first at-bat and I was just looking for a good pitch," said Greene. "I was on time and ready to go. Something clicked with our offense. We're able to string together hits and hitting is contagious."
Ryan Guardino, a sophomore center fielder from San Marcos High, went 4-5 from the leadoff spot and he's 8-9 in his last two games. Guardino has an eight-game hit streak and leads the Vaqueros in batting (.500) and stolen bases (8).
The Vaqueros added two runs in the third when Guardino and Bravo led off with singles. Guardino stole second and the runners went to second and third on Kyle Froemke's groundout. Alonzo Rubalcaba delivered a clutch, two-out, two-run single up the middle to make it 4-0.
They tacked on four more in the sixth on RBI singles by Guardino and Greene. Coyote reliever Connor Christian gave up four runs on three hits with two walks and five wild pitches in the inning. Froemke and Greene scored the seventh and eighth runs on wild pitches.
Strother, a 6-3 freshman right-hander from Servite High, had his best outing of the year after taking the mound to start the second inning. He shut down the Coyotes, who came in averaging nearly 8 runs a game, holding them scoreless over the next seven innings and giving up just four hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
The Vaqueros turned double plays in the third, fifth and seventh innings. With no outs in the fifth, Froemke made a leaping grab of Tito Hernandez's liner to third and threw to first to double up Brooks Raby. Brandon Lawrence made a major-league play in the eighth, snagging a grounder up the middle, leaping and turning in the air while firing a strike to Bravo at first to get leadoff hitter Kevin Verduzco by half-a-step.
"We got the bats going in the top of the lineup," said Vaquero coach Jeff Walker. "I'd still like to see more production out of the bottom of the lineup but overall, this was a very good game. It was nice to win our last non-conference game before we open WSC at Oxnard next week.
"Hitting's going to come and go. Playing catch and defense is what you have to hang your hat on every day."
L.A. Pierce has joined the WSC North this year, giving the conference seven teams. The defending WSC North champion Vaqueros will play four-game series against each of the six opponents. They'll play 3-game series the first time around and then close with a single game against each of the six teams.
The Vaqueros will play a three-game set with Oxnard, starting Tuesday at Oxnard and Thursday at Pershing Park. Both games get under way at 2 p.m.
Matt Strother pitched the second through eighth innings, holding Cerro
Coso's potent offense to no runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
