Bravo, Churchill shine brightly in 9-3 win over Hancock

Jacob Bravo went 3-5 with two doubles and a triple on Saturday and lefty ace Ian Churchill tossed seven innings of two-hit baseball as SBCC toppled Hancock 9-3 in a WSC North game in Santa Maria.

The Vaqueros (9-5, 2-1) outhit the Bulldogs 12-3 with two doubles, three triples and six stolen bases. Hancock is 9-9 and 1-1.

Churchill (4-0) was dominant after giving up back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the first. He didn't allow another hit in seven innings and struck out a season-high 11 batters. He retired 18 straight from the first to the seventh inning.

The former San Marcos High star lowered his ERA to 0.32, which is fourth-best in the state. He has a 21-inning scoreless streak and has only given up just one run in six appearances. He's 10th in the state in strikeouts with 42 Ks in 28 innings.

The Vaquero pitching staff is No. 3 in the state with a sparkling 2.35 ERA.

Bravo, a freshman first baseman from St. Bonaventure High, had an RBI triple in the fourth, a leadoff double in the sixth and an RBI double in the seventh to make it 7-0.

The Vaqueros got two unearned runs in the first and expanded the lead to 5-0 in the sixth when Elijah Hodges brought Bravo home with a sacrifice fly, then Mason Metcalfe singled, stole second and scored on Alex Holets' single.

Bravo is third on the team with a .340 batting average. He leads the Vaqueros in slugging percentage at .638.

Designated hitter Joshua Perlmutter went 3-4 and scored two runs. He leads the team with a .423 average. Metcalfe went 2-5 and he's hitting .344 with a five-game hitting streak.

The Vaqueros will host Hancock on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.