Santa Barbara, Ca. In its final regular season game of the year, the Vaqueros baseball team wrapped up another WSC Conference title, this time as co-champs with Cuesta, as they defeated Moorpark College 7-0. Freshman Patrick Walsh led the Vaq attack by going 2-4 with 2 RBI's, and provided the first run in the 4th inning with a single after both teams had blanked each other through 3. "Patrick came up with some timely singles today, plating a couple guys," said head coach Jeff Walker. "He's been huge for us all year with his timely hitting." Walsh wrapped up the regular season as SBCC's leading RBI man with 32, while hitting .329 and starting in all 40 games.
The first 3 innings saw a bit of a pitcher's dual with each team seeing limited hitting and some great defense on the infield. SBCC pitcher Seth White went 5 innings with 8 strikeouts against only 2 walks. "Seth really set the tone today in the strike zone. He was able to mix up his pitches and kept (Moorpark) off balance," added Walker. White ended the 2023 regular season as the team's leader in appearances (17), 2nd in ERA (1.36) and first in batting average against (.151).
Entering the 4th inning tied 0-0, the Vaqs got things cooking with Sebastian Arguellas roping a one-out single through the right side. After a balk moved him up to second base, Walsh was able to bring him home with a single hit to right-center field. After a steal by Walsh and 2 ensuing walks, Daniel Ghiorso was HBP bringing in a run, followed by an RBI walk to Vince Gamberdella, giving the Vaqs a 3-0 lead heading into the 5th.
The 5th inning saw more Vaquero "small ball" with a leadoff walk to Presley Kosciusko and a subsequent steal of 2nd base. Walsh yet again stepped up to the plate and delivered, this time with a single up the middle and another RBI. Another walk, and steals of 2nd and 3rd bases allowed Ethan Watson to deliver a sacrifice fly, making the score 5-0. Zach Torres then delivered the big hit with a triple to left field scoring another run. The Vaqueros rounded out the 5th inning and their scoring on a wild pitch, bringing home Torres.
The season sweep over Moorpark gave SBCC Baseball another conference championship, this one shared with Cuesta College. This year may have been the toughest one, according to Coach Walker: "This season has had so many ups and downs and the adversity we faced was nothing like I've ever had to coach through. We had many guys who were with us during the Covid season of 2021, and they stuck it through those trying times to make this year happen. We started out the conference season 0-3, and weren't playing particularly great baseball. Then we had those massive storms, postponing games, moving practices, and just making it difficult to be together daily. And we just recently went through a very painful team tragedy. I'm very proud of our guys, coaches and support staff. This one's for CJ."
In his 10th season at the helm of SBCC Baseball, Coach Walker has now won his 5th Conference Championship, and his first since 2019. Coach Walker was also named Co-Coach of the year of the WSC Conference. The Vaqueros next move into post-season play in the CCCAA State Championship Playoffs, and are hosting the Golden West College Rustlers of the Orange Empire Conference. First pitch is at 2 pm on Friday, May 5th at "The Persh."
