On Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, the Moorpark College Baseball team set up to play in a game that would become a series win against the Ventura Pirates if victorious.

This would be the third game in a series against the Ventura rivals. The Raiders won game one with a crushing 20-1 score. In the second game, however, they lost a heartbreaking defeat, ending in 12-4.

Mario Porto, the head coach of the baseball team, spoke about how it feels to win a series against Ventura on his home field.

“It always feels good, and we have as good of a chance as anybody, and so do they because our conference is very competitive,” Porto said. “Anybody can beat anybody, and today, hopefully, we play the game the right way.”

In a game like baseball, a coach like Porto can be an advantage because he puts his players in the best position to win and be competitive in a challenging conference. However, Porto knows there are always things to be worked on.

“We are getting better,” Porto explained. We have to be more consistent to go over and win 20-1 and then come back the next day as if different guys showed up.”

Moorpark started pitching incredibly well, led by their freshman pitcher Sergio Ruiz, as he only allowed one run in the first four innings. This performance by Ruiz allowed his team to take an early 2-1 lead as sophomore infielder Anthony Deluca reached base on a fielder’s choice to shortstop, allowing Jadyn Myatt to score. Deluca repeated these actions in the fourth inning with a single to center field, bringing a run in Yandel Guereque.

Even with the young freshman performance of pitching for six innings and getting four strikeouts, it still wasn’t enough, as the Pirates would come back to tie the game 2-2 due to a throwing error on a pickoff attempt.

After the 6th inning, Moorpark saw the Pirates take back the lead to 4-2 and responded with a 7th-inning stretch.

Deluca started the 7th inning with a line-drive single off Ryan Dexter. This inning wasn’t in the Pirates’ favor as the bases became loaded. Sophomore Ryan Stuart then hit a line drive, scoring two runners. This impressive 7th inning did not stop there as Mingyu Kim allowed himself to be hit by a pitch, allowing another runner to score to give the Raiders the 5-4 lead. Another run would score before the Pirates could get out of the inning.

The Raiders had to hold the 6-4 lead for one more inning to win. For the 8th and 9th innings, the Raiders called on Paul Mellado, another freshman pitcher. With all the pressure to close out the game, Mellado, on a 0-2 count with two runners on base, created a fly ball to left field to close out the game 6-4 and win the series 2-1 over the Ventura Pirates.

Deluca spoke about how he had such an impact on the game.

“I just had that small approach, not trying to get big, and I saw a lot of fastballs, making me want to get ahead of the count, not behind, and when I saw his fastballs, I took it and went with it,” Deluca said.

Stuart, who ended up having two hits in the game, spoke about how he could have his mindset shift midgame.

“Baseball is just a game of mistakes and errors and having to go onto the next one and just looking for first pitch fastball and trying to drive something.”

The Raiders baseball team is heading in the right direction after this momentum-shifting win, as they are now 4-10, along with a 2-1 record in their conference. Games like these will help a young Moorpark squad prepare for their much-anticipated season.

For more information on the Moorpark Raiders baseball team, click here.