All three Ventura County Community College District baseball teams have struggled as of late, but with more games remaining in the schedule, all three teams look to improve their spot in the WSC division standings.
As of April 7, both Ventura and Oxnard College hold a 5-8 record in conference play. Ventura owns a 9-4 record in the division, remaining one game behind the top seed.
Midway through the 2008 season, the Raiders baseball team is fighting to remain eligible for a playoff spot and improve upon their sub-.500 record.
The Raiders have suffered key losses in WSC play to Ventura and Oxnard and are now facing an uphill battle to finish the season.
“When we fall behind we need to realize that we’re not out of it,” said Moorpark freshmen infielder Harrison Kain.
“When we have the lead we need to be able to hang on to it,” he said.
With upcoming games against Santa Barbra City College and Oxnard, the Raiders are confident they can recover their season.
“When everything comes together we’re a tough team to beat,” said Kain. “We just have to go out and play one series at a time.”
The Condors are in a similar situation as the Raiders, also needing a strong finish to their season to make the playoffs.
Oxnard has struggled as of late suffering a recent shutout by Santa Barbra City College and losing a tough game to Ventura by a score of 15-4.
“When we play together as a team and work hard for every out we are unstoppable,” said freshmen Condor pitcher Cory Goldsmith. “We just need to put it all together and play all 27 outs as best as we can.”
The Condors hope to put it all together in upcoming important WSC games against Cuesta, Moorpark and Ventura.
“I feel we can have a strong second half and make it into playoffs,” said Goldsmith.
As Oxnard and Moorpark bring up the rear of the WSC division, the Ventura Pirates are fighting for the top spot.
The Pirates are sailing through the season, beating up on continuously on division rivals.
Jose Vargas leads the Pirates offensive attack, with as of April 7 owning nine homeruns with three of them coming in last Thursday’s win against Moorpark.
The Pirates remaining games consist of 12 of their next 13 games against division opponents, games that may very well determine the division champion until the last game of the season May 2.
Ventura will play Oxnard three more times before the end of the season while only playing Moorpark one more time April 24.
