Wild Day at the Ball Park Leads to Double-Header Split

It was a wild day at Pirate Park on Thursday. Ventura and Moorpark combined for 47 runs in two games as the Pirates and Raiders split a twin-bill. VC (5-5, 1-1) trailed by as many as 10 runs in game one before coming back to win in walk-off fashion 16-15 before falling to their cross-county rivals 10-6 in the nightcap. JR Godinez led the Pirate offense with five hits, five runs batted in and two runs scored over the 16 innings of play. Travis Nelson picked up the win on the mound in the opener while Robby Keister picked up the save.

Ventura 16, Moorpark 15

Thursday's opener was as wild as JC baseball gets. The Pirates fell behind 13-3 through five-and-a-half innings and were on the verge of ending the game on the short end of a mercy rule, instituted for Covid-19 era double-headers, before scoring three runs in the sixth to avoid the setback. Then, in the bottom of the seventh in what was to be a seven-inning game, Ventura plated eight runs to tie the score, making the opener the twin-bill's nine-inning affair. After MC took a 15-14 lead in the top of the eight, the Pirates tied the score in the bottom half of the column before walking off with the victory in the game's final at bat, Noel Garcia's two-out single to score Connor Laeng from second base.

Moorpark took the early lead with a run in the first inning, and scored another in the third for a 2-0 advantage. The Pirates came back with a two-spot in the bottom half of the third. With two outs, John Oleson doubled to score Max Baldaccini and Chase McBean to even the score.

The Raiders plated three runs in the fourth frame while VC kept pace with another score. Elijah Maris had the big hit of the inning, a one-out triple, and he scored on Anthony Arancibia-Mundy's sacrifice fly to right field.

Pirate starting pitcher Jake Read was chased in the fifth inning as MC scored six runs on six hits.  The Raiders added two more runs in the sixth to hold a 13-3 lead, enough for the newly instituted run rule to go into effect after the bottom half of the inning.

Ventura had other plans, however, and after a Nick Schnopp single, Garcia was hit by a pitch and Maris walked. the runners then advanced on a wild pitch scoring Schnopp and Arancibia-Mundy hit a sacrifice fly to score Garcia. Godinez added an RBI single to score Maris and the Pirates were still alive despite trailing 13-6. 

MC scored a seemingly unnecessary insurance run in the top of the seventh, sending the Pirates to their final at-bat of the scheduled seven-inning game down eight runs. Then VC came back.

Pinch hitters Julien Monks and Garrick Levesque both singled and Chavis Conceicao walked. Edgar Padilla grounded into a 5-4-3 double play that scored Monks and Garcia singled home Levesque then stole second. Hunter Klingelhoffer followed with an RBI double and Arancibia-Mundy reached base on an error. Godinez hit an RBI single and stole second base before McBean drew a base-on-balls. Monks up to bat again produced a two-RBI single an Levesque cleared the bases with a triple to tie the score at 14-14, making game one of the double-header the nine-inning game.

In the eighth, Moorpark scored another run before VC scored with two outs on a bases-loaded walk by McBean to plate Garcia.

After a 1-2-3 inning on the mound for Keister, the Pirates came up in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to win. Laeng drew a one-out walk and moved to second on an error. Another out later, Garcia singled Laeng home for the walk-off victory.

Ventura 6, Moorpark 10

Ventura could not produce the magic again in the seven-inning nightcap, falling to the Raiders by a 10-6 score. 

The Raiders collected the upper hand early in the second game with five runs in the top of the first inning. 

The Pirates came back to plate one score in the bottom half when Casey Turturici grounded to first to score Godinez, who singled, stole second, and moved to third on a balk.

Ventura closed the gap to 5-4 in the second frame with Godinez providing the big hit, a bases-clearing triple to score Oleson, Anthony Chavez and Arancibia-Mundy.

MC broke the game open again in the third with another five-spot, taking a 10-4 lead.

Maris helped lead another Pirate charge with an RBI single to score Turturici, who led off the inning with a double. He then came around to score on a wild pitch, but that was all the comeback Ventura could muster.

Despite four scoreless innings of relief by Dawson Radik, Anthony Betancourt and Josiah Blatt on the mound, VC's offense did not have the juice for another comeback, as the Pirates fell 10-6.

The Pirates and Raiders will tangle for the final time in the Covid-19 circuit this spring with another double-header on Saturday May 1 in Moorpark.