Polarizing Opening Weekend Sees Vaqueros Win Two Blowouts, Lose Close One
By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Baseball team finished their opening weekend 2-1, sandwiching a loss in between two blowout wins against West LA. The teams played Friday afternoon at West LA before a doubleheader at Pershing Park on Saturday.
SBCC 16, West LA 1 (8 innings)
The Vaqueros came out strong in the first game of the weekend, showing no early season jitters by stealing 6 bases in the first inning alone. After Kevin Katragadda reached on a 2-out error, he stole second while John Payton Boyle stole third, and Vince Gamberdella brought them both home by hitting a 2-run single.
A few runs in the middle innings padded the Vaqueros lead to 8-0, and a 7-run 6th inning put the game completely out of reach. The shutout ended on a passed ball, but the final was still an emphatic 16-1.
The box score finished with a puzzling 16 runs on just 4 hits for the Vaqueros. Yes, four. The Vaqueros took advantage of 17 walks, 4 hit by pitches, and 6 errors. Meanwhile, they stole 18 bags across the 8 innings.
Out of the leadoff spot, Daniel Ghiorso reached base in all 4 of his plate appearances, including a double, single, 2 walks, and 3 stolen bases.
Jake Villar pitched 4 innings of 1-hit ball before handing it off to Max McGrady and Scott Radinsky who closed things out.
West LA 6, SBCC 4
At Pershing Park on Saturday, one would have assumed the Vaqueros would roll over the same West LA team they beat so drastically the day before. Baseball is a fickle sport, though.
Jack Holland was given the start but struggled to find the zone, walking the first 3 batters of the game. With bases loaded nobody out, it looked like he had a ticket out of the inning with a soft comebacker right to him, setting up a 1-2-3 double play. However, his toss home took Gamberdella off the plate, so the Vaqueros only got the out at first, allowing a run to score. The next batter doubled to drive in 2 more runs, and 2 more walks chased Holland for his abbreviated start. By the end of the inning, it was a 4-0 deficit.
Ghiorso led off the bottom of the first, reaching base once again via an opposite field double. He would score on Sebastian Arguelles' infield single, and Boyle would bring Arguelles home on a 2-out RBI double.
Both pitchers settled in from there, as Jordan Rico pitched a phenomenal 3.2 innings in relief, compiling 9 strikeouts and giving up just 1 hit.
In the 6th, West LA tacked on a run via an error to increase their lead to 5-2. Ethan Watson answered via an RBI single, but that would be all for SBCC. On the other side, Justin Hurst completed a quality start, throwing 6 innings and giving up 3 earned runs, scattering 6 hits.
To start the 7th, Koehn Thomas relieved Halen Jaden Guerrero, who pitched the 5th and 6th. Guerrero had 5 strikeouts in just the 2 innings, allowing the aforementioned 1 unearned run. He did not allow a hit. Thomas then stranded runners at first and third to give the Vaqueros life heading to the home half of the inning.
Ghiorso led off the inning reaching base again, this time with an infield single. Presley Kosciusko singled to give SBCC first and second with no one out. West LA then threw away a double play ball allowing Ghiorso to score, making it a 5-4 game. With the tying run on second and 1 out, the next two batters were retired to end the inning.
Thomas breezed through a clean top of the 8th, and the Vaqueros were in business with bases loaded and 1 out thanks to an error and 2 hit by pitches in the bottom half of the frame. A pop up and strikeout ended the threat, though, with the Vaqueros failing to cash in with the tying run in scoring position for the second straight inning.
In the 9th, a Vaquero error on a fielder's choice allowed an insurance run to score, increasing West LA's lead to 6-4. The Vaqueros then stranded Ben Fabbian after his leadoff walk, capping off an odd 6-4 loss.
Thomas finished with 3 innings, 4 strikeouts, 2 hits, 2 walks, and the 1 unearned run. Overall, SBCC's bullpen—Rico, Guerrero, and Thomas—covered 8.2 innings getting 18 strikeouts, allowing 4 walks, 3 hits, and 2 unearned runs.
The winning team once again had just 4 hits, but the Vaqueros' 4 errors loomed large; 4 of the 6 runs allowed were unearned. It was not a clean game for either team, as West LA also committed 4 errors.
Ghiorso once again had a multi-hit game with a double and a single. He scored 2 of the Vaqueros' 4 runs.
West LA 0, SBCC 11
The rubber game was more predictable, with the Vaqueros expectedly taking care of business as they did in game one.
After a few lineup changes, the Vaqueros jumped off to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first inning. They would tack on 2 more in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th to a 9-0 lead, totally controlling the flow of the game. They would score another 2 late to make it 11.
Bradley Johnson got the start, and pitched excellently over his 4 innings, allowing just 2 hits while fanning 7. After that, the bullpen was just as dominant.
Jonathan Peric got through the next 1.2, scattering 4 walks but striking out 4 on no hits. Shane McMahon had a nearly impossibly line, accounting for 1.1 innings, no hits or walks, and striking out 5. Five strikeouts for 4 outs! A dropped third strike allowed him to complete the extremely rare feat. Joseph Talarico got the final 6 outs, striking out 5 and allowing just 1 hit. In the end, it was a slow day for the position players, as the Vaqueros bullpen got 14 punchouts over 5 innings—15 outs.
Ghiorso once again had a multi-hit game, with a double and a single, again, and 2 walks, finishing the weekend with a blistering .600/.714/.900 slash line.
Arguelles walked 3 times and doubled. Kosciusko doubled, singled, walked, and had 3 RBIs. Wyatt Thornbury started his first game and had an RBI triple. Lucas Anderson similarly started his first game behind the dish, driving in 3 runs on 2 hits.
The Vaqueros next play at Hartnell on Thursday before a Friday-Saturday 2-game series at Canada.
