Ventura Drops Close Decision at Pierce

The Pirate baseball team's quest for the post season took a shot Friday in a 6-5 setback against Los Angeles Pierce Friday in a game played at LA Valley. VC (21-18, 14-9) scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning and had the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on first when the Brahmas retired the side. Nick Schnopp had two hits and a run batted in in the final frame, and John Oleson also had a pair of hits with two RBI in the game for Ventura.

Ventura jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first. JR Godinez led off with a single and Reiss Calvin was hit by a pitch.  Oleson followed with an RBI single, but the Pirates could not muster any more offense, recording the third out at home after a flyball out to right field.

Pierce countered with two runs in the second and another score in the third.  They followed with two more scores in the fourth for a 5-1 lead.

The Pirates got back on the board in the fifth inning. Calvin was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, and one out later Casey Turturici hit a two-run home run.

The Brahmas then plated another run in the bottom half of the frame for the 6-3 margin.

In the top of the ninth, Godinez drew a one-out walk, Calvin followed with a single and Oleson singled to score Godinez. One out later Schnopp hit an RBI single to pull VC to within 6-5, but they were unable to get one more clutch hit to score the game-tying or go-ahead runs.

Ryan Sweeney came out of the bullpen to pitch three scoreless innings to give the Pirates a chance in the end. 

Ventura hosts Moorpark in their regular season finale on Saturday April 30 at 1:00 pm at Pirate Park.