By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA – On the back of Jake Villar's 3-hit shutout, the Santa Barbara City College Baseball team (18-4) clinched at least a share of the WSC-North title after Tuesday's 4-0 win over Hancock.
Hoping to increase on their 9-game win streak, the Vaqueros had the right guy on the mound. By game's end, Villar had a 2.32 ERA, a perfect 8-0 record, and a conference-leading 79 strikeouts.
After the first batter of the game singled, he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Villar ended the inning with a pop up and two strikeouts, and no Hancock baserunner would be in scoring position the remainder of the afternoon.
101 pitches, 9 strikeouts, just 3 hits and 2 walks later, Villar had the best start of his Vaquero career. He also induced 2 double plays, so there was even less traffic on the basepaths than that statline will tell you. Furthermore, he did not tire late in the game, striking out the side in the 8th and getting a strikeout and weak lineout after a 1-out single in the 9th.
The scoring for the Vaqueros all came in innings 2 and 5. After Sebastian Arguelles singled and stole second in the 2nd, Jordan Harris brought him home on a single.
Then, in the 4th, Presley Kosciusko's 2-out double scored Ethan Watson and moved Vince Gamberdella to third. Arguelles, the next batter, singled both of them home to get to the 4-0 final score.
Villar is not the only Vaquero at the top of the conference leaderboard. Daniel Ghiorso's 2 for 5 day propelled his batting average to .390, 5 points above Jack Clothier of Cuesta for the batting title. Ghiorso still holds the lead in stolen bases with 30, too.
Sebastian Arguelles and Vince Gamberdella also had 2 hits for the Vaqueros. Jordan Harris and Zach Torres one-upped them, each reaching base 3 times.
Now on a 10-game win streak, the Vaqs are hot—and at just the right time. With two regular season games to play, SBCC likely needs a win at Pierce (4-18) or Moorpark (10-12) to win the conference outright over Cuesta (17-6). Winning the season series over Cuesta, though, the Vaqueros have ensured they will be the #1 WSC-North seed in the postseason regardless.
