Rodriguez's Walk-off Homer Lifts Vaqueros Amidst 4-Game Win Streak
By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Baseball team (4-1) has started conference play strong, winning 4 games in the last 6 days.
After rainouts and rescheduling resulted in quite a schedule crunch, the Vaqueros have hit their stride. SBCC lost its opening conference game at Cuesta 9-0 last Thursday, but won the rematch 6-4 on Saturday thanks to 3 runs in the top of the 9th. On Tuesday at Oxnard, the Vaqueros steadily built and added to their lead to an 8-4 victory.
2/28/24 – SBCC 3, Cuesta 1
On Wednesday, Pershing Park finally was dry enough to host SBCC's first conference home game of the year. It would be the rubber match of this early-season series between SBCC and Cuesta, who only play one more time on April 16.
Jack Holland was tasked with the start for SBCC, throwing a 1-2-3 1st inning thanks to a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play by Santa Barbara High batterymate Vince Gamberdella. In the bottom half of the frame, Daniel Ghiorso singled, stole second, and scored on Sebastian Arguelles' double. The Vaqueros would leave the bases loaded, but end the frame with a 1-0 advantage.
From there, it was a pitchers' duel. Holland got through the 2nd before handing the ball to Jordan Rico, who followed for 5 scoreless innings and 7 strikeouts. Rico struck out his final batter looking, stranding the tying and go-ahead runners on second and third.
Meanwhile, the Vaqueros left 3 runners in scoring position in the 2nd and 3rd innings (2 and 1, respectively), yet mustered just one hit in innings 4 through 7.
Halen Jaden Guerrero was given the 8th, and delivered with a strikeout and 2 groundouts. After Presley Kosciusko stole second with 1 out, the Vaqueros left him stranded. Heading to the top of the 9th, SBCC was hoping for a 1-0 shutout.
Guerrero came back out for the 9th, tasked with a 6-out save. Cuesta led off the inning with a single by Mikey Bell, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Then, 2 wild pitches allowed him to score, which hurt even more for the Vaqueros considering Guerrero got a strikeout later in the at bat. After a groundout ended the inning, SBCC had an opportunity to walk it off with the top of the order due up.
The ever-dependable Ghiorso led off the inning with a single in a 1-1 count. The Vaqueros second baseman is currently just shy of a 1-dot OPS, slashing .403/.493/.500. Dos Pueblos graduate Ethan Rodriguez then dug into the box with a tough lefty-lefty matchup. Head coach Jeff Walker called on him to sacrifice bunt, but Rodriguez fouled off the first two attempts. Quickly behind 0-2, he took the next pitch just outside and following pitch just up, eventually working a full count after a slider way away. On the 3-2 pitch, Cuesta's pitcher challenged Rodriguez with a fastball that he turned around for a walk-off homer over the right field fence. His first homer of the year was a big one, resulting in a 3-1 Vaqueros win.
Ghiorso had the aforementioned 2 hits, and Rodriguez had the homer and 2 walks. Kosciusko stole 2 bags and also reached base 3 times with a single, walk, and hit by pitch.
2/29/24 – SBCC 11, Oxnard 3
Riding the high of Wednesday's walk-off, the Vaqueros now had a rematch against Oxnard on Thursday, this time at home. It would be the third game in three days for SBCC, but the Vaqueros showed no signs of sluggishness.
Bradley Johnson was given the ball for SBCC, looking for redemption after giving up 4 runs in 3.2 innings against Cuesta in the loss a week prior. Here, he gave up a leadoff double, but got 2 strikeouts to end the inning after a sacrifice bunt.
Ghiorso led off the Vaqueros' day offensively with a double and scored on Patrick Walsh's RBI groundout. In the bottom of the 2nd, back-to-back errors and a Jordan Harris double scored 2 more, and Ghiorso singled him home to an early 4-0 SBCC lead. After Johnson's scoreless 3rd, the Vaqueros scored twice on Wyatt Thornbury's RBI groundout and Vince Gamberdella's beautiful squeeze bunt.
Oxnard got their first run on the board in the 6th and scored another on a 2-out error, but the Vaqueros still had a comfortable 6-2 lead into the bottom of the frame. Johnson left the game with a quality start, pitching 6 innings allowing just 1 earned run, scattering 3 hits and 4 walks while punching out 4 batters.
The offense would give him even more run support, ensuring he earned the win. Sebastian Arguelles hit a 2-RBI double, and Ethan Watson hit a sacrifice fly to tack on another run. Two-thirds of the way through, SBCC led 9-2.
Shane McMahon, Scott Radinsky, and Trevor Kester-Johnson were tasked with getting the last 9 outs, each throwing an inning apiece. The bullpen trio gave up 1 unearned run on 1 hit, striking out 2.
Watson got another RBI via a single, and Kevin Katragadda's bases-loaded hit by pitch gave him an RBI, as well. The final score was 11-3 SBCC, their fourth win in a row.
Daniel Ghiorso had his 10th (!) multi-hit game of the season, despite the fact that the Vaqueros have only played 15 games, He also stole his 16th bag, which is more than double the next Vaquero for the team lead.
Ethan Rodriguez followed up his walk-off the day prior with a multi-hit game. Sebastian Arguelles had 2 hits, as well, including the 2-RBI double. Jordan Harris also doubled to increase his massive slugging percentage to .611. In 18 at bats so far this season, Harris has more extra base hits (3) than singles (2).
The Vaqueros will put their 4-game win streak to the test, playing Oxnard again at home on Saturday at 1:00 PM.