On a cold rainy afternoon, Moorpark College defeated Western State Conference leader Cuesta College, 3-2, with a crucial hit in the bottom of the ninth inning at Raiders Stadium on Saturday, March 5.

The game was tied with runners at first and second, and two out, when Raider second baseman Garrett Kueber battled relief pitcher Anthony Baleto, fouling off pitch after pitch before smashing a ground ball into shallow right field past the diving infielders to drive home the winning run.

“The right guy was up; he’s one of the toughest kids I know,” said Head Coach Mario Porto of Kueber’s heroics. “I told him, ‘It’s not what you hit, it’s when you hit.’”

The Moorpark dugout erupted as the players rushed onto the field to surround, mob and rag on Kueber, the hero of the hour, after he delivered the decisive blow.

“All that matters is that we got a win today,” said Kueber who was showered with sunflower seeds by his teammates during the postgame interview. “Our pitchers did an awesome job.”

Starter Zak Daniels’ solid pitching performance kept Moorpark in contention for most of the game. He gave up two runs in seven and two thirds innings, and closer John Cashman earned the win.

“We call him ‘The Vulture’ because he steals all of our wins,” said Daniels joking about Cashman. “He shut them down after I got pulled. I kept mixing up the pitches throwing strikes and it worked out.”

The Raiders struck first with two outs in the third. Shortstop Terrell Tate, doubled deep to left, was advancing to third and was awarded home when leftfielder Will Ruiz’s errant throw landed in the visitor’s dugout.

“I promised you we’d win today,” Tate said smiling. “It was huge for us and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

The Cougars responded in the fourth when Ruiz singled with one out. With two outs, catcher TK Mc Whertor singled to left putting Ruiz in scoring position and outfielder Cayce Rocco’s RBI double to right field drove in Cuesta’s first run.

With two outs and one on in the fifth, Cuesta took a 2-1 lead when shortstop Garrett Giovanelli’s single put runners at the corners. Ruiz’s double drove home one run, but the trailing runner was out at the plate on a close play.

“[Cuesta] is first in our conference so it’s a huge win for us,” said first baseman Dalton Duarte, who cut down the lead runner in a spectacular play at second base in the fifth inning. “We got a few calls that worked out in our favor in the end.”

The Raiders tied the game in the eighth when Tate’s RBI to left delivered the runner on third with one out. Riley Conlan’s single put two on, but Baleto came on to limit the damage.

The Raiders play at Cuesta on Tuesday at 2 p.m., and return to the friendly confines of Raider Stadium for a WSC game against Oxnard College on Saturday at 1 p.m. Check the CCCAA sports website for results and statistics.