The baseball season took a turn for the better for Ventura College on Thursday March 13 when the Pirates defeated Pierce College 7-1 to finally end its 10 game losing streak.
Heading into the game, Ventura had not won since Feb. 11 against Cerritos College.
After the game, Don Adams, Ventura’s head coach, said his team felt really good about the win.
“They tied the school record for most loses ever,” Adams said. “We knew eventually we might win one, so we played really well today.”
In the first inning of the game third basemen Alex Sawelson gave Pierce a one run lead after his RBI single brought in right fielder Joe Moran who doubled earlier in the inning, but it was short lived as Ventura tied the score after scoring a run during the second inning.
During the second inning an error was made by short stop Austin Peters as he attempted to tag out Pirates center fielder Bradley Fullerton which gave the Pirates a one run lead, heading into the third inning the Pirates led the Brahmas 5-1.
A double hit into the far left field by the Pirates third basemen Harrison Crawford gave Ventura a 6-1 lead during the top of the fifth inning.
Pierce switched pitcher during the top of the fifth inning bringing in Brandon Ortega to the mound.
In the top of the sixth inning Ventura continued to add to their lead when first basemen Tim Ginther hit a single that scored left fielder Dylan Colman. After the sixth inning the score was 7-1 neither team would score after.
John Bushart, head coach of the Pierce baseball team, said it was a good game and that Ventura’s pitcher played well.
“He went nine innings and that hasn’t been done, but good pitching defeats good hitting,” Bushart said. “So from our stand point offensively he played well.”
The Brahmas first basemen Casey Ryan, who was hit with the ball by a pitch twice during the game, said it was a tough loss.
“We made to many mistakes on defense and we need to clean it up a little bit and keep the runs down to a minimum for the other team,” Ryan said “We’re a good offense team we just didn’t show it today.”
Bushart believes the team is tough and the loss will not hinder the them in their upcoming games.
“We’re resilient. We’ve had winning streaks winning three or four games in a row and we’ve stumbled at times, but we’ll bounce back,” Bushart said.
Coming into the game Adams knew that Pierce College would be a challenge and hopes that the win will motivate his team to do better.
“Pierce is always a challenge for us. It’s a good program with great coaches,” Adams said. “We just talk about taking it one game at a time now because one game and we need to get ready for the next one.”
Pierce College and Ventura College are scheduled to play again at Ventura on Saturday March 15 at 1 p.m.
