2026 Ventura College Baseball Team News
The VC baseball team carried a three-run lead into the sixth inning Friday afternoon at Pirate Park, but Allan Hancock answered with a four-run rally and held on for a 4-3 win in the regular season finale. Damien Valdez had a pair of hits, including a double, with a run batted in to lead the Pirates while Hector Pina singled, walked and scored a run. Jaden Valdez, Alex Escobar and Nicholas Tostado all threw multiple scoreless innings from the mound.
The in a game postponed a day by weather, the Pirate baseball team was not able to find its groove in a loss to Santa Barbara Wednesday at Pirate Park. Lucas Martinov recorded a pair of hits, including a double, with a run batted in and a run scored in the limited Ventura offensive attack. Brandon Contreras also had a single and a run scored for VC, who totaled three hits and six drawn walks in the contest.
The VC baseball team agve up a nine-run seventh inning, falling to Oxnard 21-6 Saturday afternoon at Pirate Park. Brandon Contreras totaled three hits, including two doubles, with two runs scored and a pair of runs batted in for Ventura.
The Pirate baseball team carried a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning Friday, but Cuesta answered with four runs to walk off with a 10-9 victory in a back-and-forth game. James Luderer provided VC's biggest at-bat o fthe day with a grand slam home run in the top of the sixth inning. Lucas Martinov recorded a pair of hits, including a double, with one run batted in and two runs scored.
The VC baseball team carried a four-run lead into the eighth inning Thursday, but Moorpark rallied for an 8-6 victory in 10 innings at Pirate Park. Hector Pina had three hits and scored a run for Ventura and Grant Rodriguez generated a pair of base knocks with two runs batted in. Starting pitcher Will Kaczynski had another strong outing, giving up a pair of runs through six innings, striking out 10 Raiders in the no-decision on the hill.
The Pirate baseball team broke a scoreless game open with four runs in the fourth inning and never let up Tuesday, overpowering Los Angeles Pierce 24-2 in Woodland Hills. Santiago Avila totaled four hits with two runs batted in and two runs scored to help lead the offensive explosion while Grant Rodriguez had a double and a triple with two RBI while scoring four runs. Nate Slaton got on base six times with three hits and three walks, scoring four times. The Pirates scored in six innings overall and turned the game into a rout with additional surges in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth behind a deep offensive performance and a strong start from Johnny Levelis.
Ventura could not recover from Allan Hancock’s six-run first inning Saturday afternoon, falling 17-4 in a conference road game that was largely decided by the host Bulldogs’ early surge. James Luderer hit a triple and a home run with two runs scored and Cole Howard also homered for the Pirates in the setback. Matthew Ramirez and Hector Pina each recorded three hits.
Ventura carried a four-run lead into the middle innings Thursday, but Allan Hancock flipped the game with a five-run seventh and went on to hand the Pirates a 9-6 baseball loss at Pirate Park. Pitcher Will Kaczynski did not allow a hit until there were two-outs in the fourth, and gave up a pair of runs while striking out six through five complete, but the performance did not hold up in the late innings. Brandon Contreras had two hits, including a double, with two runs scored an a run batted in offensively.
The VC baseball team grabbed an early lead Tuesday at Hancock, but could not hold on in their 10-5 setback against the Bulldogs in Santa Maria. Grant Rodriguez hit a pair of doubles and scored two runs and Hector Pina hit a single and a double with one run batted in and a pair of runs scored to lead Ventura (15-17, 8-8).
The VC baseball team came up one run short Saturday afternoon, falling to LA Valley 9-8 in 10 innings, ending a back-and-forth contest that had four ties over the course of regulation play. James Luderer had three hits, including a double and a home run, while knocking in two runs and scoring two more. Grant Rodriguez also had three hits and Hector Pina recorded a pair of base knocks for VC (15-16, 8-7).
The VC baseball team dropped a 9-2 decision to Santa Barbara on Saturday at Pershing Park, undone by a seven-run sixth inning. The Pirates stayed within reach through five frames after surrendering only a solo home run in the first, but the Vaqueros broke it open in the middle frames and never gave VC a chance to recover. Grant Rodriguez drew a pair of walks and scored both Pirate runs in the game while Will Kaczynski had a quality start on the mound allowing just one run through five innings.
Ventura fell behind in the first inning and never recovered Thursday, dropping an 8-1 road decision to Santa Barbara at Pershing Park. Santa Barbara scored three times in the opening inning, then kept adding on to hand the Pirates the loss. Lucas Martinov doubled and Mario Franco followed with an RBI single in the fifth inning for VC's lone run of the game.
The VC baseball team survived a wild ninth inning and answered with the final run in the bottom half, beating Santa Barbara 8-7 on Tuesday at Pirate Park. After building a six-run lead, the Pirates watched Santa Barbara score five times in the top of the ninth to pull even at 7-7 before Ventura ended it with a walk-off run. Mario Franco recorded four hits, including a double, with a run batted in and a run scored. Meanwhile Johnny Levelis produced a quality start on the mound, working into the sixth inning and giving up one run.
The VC baseball team split a two-game series with Los Angeles Mission Thursday and Saturday, falling to the Eagles in the opener at Pirate Park before defeating LAMC Saturday in Sylmar. James Luderer scored six runs in the two games, including four in Saturday's win, while Matthew Ramirez totaled six hits. Brandon Contreras had four hits against the Eagles, including a home run, with five runs batted in and three runs scored.
The Ventura College baseball team exploded for 18 runs over the final three innings, capping a remarkable rally with an eight-run ninth to defeat West Los Angeles 20-16 in a nonconference slugfest Tuesday afternoon in Culver City. Grant Rodriguez led the way offensively for the Pirates with three hits, including a pair of triples, five runs batted in and four runs scored. Nate Lajole recorded three hits with three RBI while scoring twice in the wild victory.
A five-run first inning and an eight-run outburst in the fifth powered Ventura College to a 17-3 road win over Oxnard on Saturday afternoon, capping a dominant offensive performance by the Pirates. Lucas Martinov banged out four hits, including a double and a triple, with five runs batted in and James Luderer had a double and a triple with six RBI to lead the offensive attack. Will Kaczynski pitched five innings and gave up three runs to pick up the win on the mound.
