On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Moorpark College baseball team took on Santa Barbara City College, looking to rebound from their last game.
The Raiders suffered one of their worst losses of the season against Fullerton, with a final score of 16-2. The Raiders returned home to play the Santa Barbara Vaqueros, hoping to get their first win at Moorpark College.
It was a hot afternoon, and the Vaqueros looked to strike first as they put two men on the bases early in the game. However, Moorpark tightened up and left those runners stranded. It was now the bottom of the inning, and the Raiders came out with a leadoff hit. This was a good sign to score early, but they could not get the runner to score.
Moorpark threw a quick 1-2-3 inning, and it was time to hit again. The Raiders got another leadoff hit but were unable to bring him around to leave the game scoreless.
A pitching duel was beginning to develop over the next third and fourth innings. Both starters continued to deal and shut down the opposing lineups, and the score remained 0-0.
Things began to shift in the fifth inning, as Santa Barbara hit a leadoff double that advanced him to third. Trying to put a little pressure on Moorpark, the runner took a big lead on third base, looking to steal home. However, he was caught in a rundown, and the Raiders avoided damage. This would be a significant momentum shift for the home team.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Moorpark would finally break the ice as Moses Hyde hit a double to drive in Gabriel Flores for the game’s first run. Just as Santa Barbara thought the scoring was over, Max Fernandez would get a two-out knock, scoring Hyde as the Raiders took a 2-0 lead to end the fifth inning.
Hyde commented on how it felt to be the spark in the offense after no score through five innings.
“Feels great,” Hyde said. “[I] struggled early on in the season so I’m just hoping to keep this energy going to help the team out.”
The Vaqueros wouldn’t go down easy after they put a man on the base path. He would come around to score on a run-batted-in triple after Moorpark was unable to make a difficult diving catch, making the score 2-1. The pitcher would adjust and end the inning without further damage.
Manager Mario Porto chose to stick with his starting pitcher, despite the pitcher not having his sharpest outing. Porto explained his decision-making.
“Trust. We know Valor, and he’s been with us, so we know what we’re gonna get, and he’s not gonna fold, and he’s gonna give that out,” Porto said.
Moorpark tried to get that run back with a leadoff hit but was unable to capitalize, and the score remained 2-1 after six innings. Getting late in the game, Moorpark made a pitching change, with Jadon Onaca replacing starter Valor Castroll after six strong innings.
Onaca would start the seventh by hitting the batter but quickly rebounded and ended the inning with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts.
Now entering the final innings, the Raiders’ ability to hold this 2-1 lead was tested. The team was six outs away from their first win at home. But Santa Barbara wouldn’t go quietly after they started the eighth inning with a leadoff single who would advance to second after an out. With two outs down, the Raiders took a gamble and intentionally walked a batter, risking damage with two men on. Stepping up to the challenge, Onaca made the biggest out of the game, striking out the batter to strand the runners.
Feeding off that energy, the Raiders would hit a leadoff single and bring him around to score and extend their lead to 3-1 off of a Drew Paez RBI single.
Moorpark looked to close out this 3-1 game and stuck with Onaca after he made the big out in the eighth. He was more than up to that challenge as he struck out the first two batters and secured the final out with a fly-out right field. The Raiders won with a final score of 3-1 and got it done in front of the home crowd.
“Clean” was the word used by Manager Porto when he was asked to use one word to describe the team’s performance today.
Additionally, assistant coach Poncho Aguilera added to this by discussing how the team can improve going forward.
“Just approaches at the plate. I feel like if we lock down our approach and stick with our game plan, I feel like we are a tough team to beat especially with the pitching staff we have.”
The Raiders would celebrate this win until dropping the next two games at Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 20, and Saturday, Feb. 22. The Raiders will look to recover from these back-to-back losses with a home game versus Ventura College on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m.
For more information on the Moorpark College baseball team, click here.
