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The Ventura County Bucs (9-8, 7-6 Sunset Baseball League) clicked in all three facets of the game Tuesday, putting an 11-4 drubbing on the Signal Hill Oilers (6-6-1, All SBL) at Pote Field in Griffith park.
“We took advantage of having guys on base with timely hitting, not trying to do too much,” Bucs head coach Evan O’Meara said.
2021 SBL home-run-derby participant Dane Nakatsuka had a field day against the Oilers depleted pitching staff. He put the ball in play in all five plate appearances, going 3-5 with 3RBIs.
“It was nice to see a pitcher who was above 85mph,” Nakatsuka said. “I felt like I was really competing, like there was adrenaline in my system because we were actually facing decent competition.”
Bucs center fielder and 2021 SBL All-Star Shaun Montoya made his presence felt with 2 hits, two runs, and two RBI. One of those RBI was made possible by a disciplined plate appearance from the 10-hitter Joseph Avrahamy, who walked with two outs in the fifth inning, allowing Montoya to bat with runners on base.
The top of the order took full advantage of Avrahamy’s ability to turn the lineup over, exploding for a three-run, two-out rally giving the Bucs a 5-2 lead which they would not relinquish. Ventura scored three runs in an inning three times Tuesday.
Josh Yosfan (1-0) pitched a scoreless fifth inning for Ventura, earning his first win of the season. Drew Atherton made one of his best appearances of the season, pitching a dominant final three innings to earn his second save of the summer.
“That guy is a seasoned pitcher,” O’Meara said of Atherton. “All he has to do is play catch with the catcher and that’s what he did today.”
The Bucs are off on Wednesday, but pitchers Jackson Briscoe and Josh Kim as well as utility player Kenny Kim will join Montoya and Nakatsuka in the SBL All-Star Festivities Wednesday. The event will begin with the home run derby at 2:20 p.m. at Cypress College with the 2021 SBL All-Star game.
Ventura County returns to Pote Field in Griffith Park Thursday to face the Arroyo Seco Sentinels at 4:30p.m.