Bucs stay undefeated in SBL as they hold off Orange County

SBL Bucs Left Fielder Ian Nord takes a secondary lead off first base against the OC Pirates at Cypress College June 13 2022. Photo by Jesse Barrientos

Coming off a 16-4 blowout win vs The California Cage Rats, The SBL Bucs (2-1, 2-0 Sunset Baseball League) came away with their second league win of the season vs The OC Pirates by a final score of 7-6 at Cypress College on Monday.

The Bucs sent Right-hander Ricky Martinez to make his first start of the season. Martinez threw four innings with five strikeouts and zero walks while allowing one earned run. Martinez got himself into some trouble in the first inning but bounced back to shut down the OC offense..

“This was the best team in the league last year,” Bucs Head Coach Bobby Livinsgston said. “When we come out and have a pitching performance like Ricky, Mason [Kim] and Jacob [Amudo] gave us, it’s going to be a nice drive home.”

The Bucs first threatened in the top of the third when Ian Nord drew a leadoff walk followed by a double down the left field line by Teran Rowan putting runners on second and third with zero outs. Kai Moran would score Nord giving the Bucs their first run of the game and shortly after Giovanny Lorenzo would score Rowan on a deep fly ball to left field giving the Bucs a 2-1 lead.

The Bucs made some noise again in the top of the 4th as they drew two walks and one single to load the bases with one out. Trent Turquand scored on a passed ball and another walk by Rowan would score another. With bases loaded Lorenzo unleashed a rocket through the right siide to cap off the Bucs 4-run inning.

“I was looking to drive the ball because we had bases loaded,” said Lorenzo. “I tried to make him come to me because with bases loaded two outs he’s going to want to nibble but he gave me a first-pitch fastball and I was ready for it.”

The Bucs were able to grab an insurance run in the top of the 8th when speedster Noah Nicholas led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, then stole third making it his third stolen base of the day and came around to score on a passed ball. The Bucs now led 7-5.

Jakub Amado entered in relief for Kim in the 7th and cruised through the 7th and 8th inning. He pitched out of traffic in the 9th for the 9-out save, his first of the season. He finished with three innings pitched, five strikeouts, one hit and one earned run.

The SBL Bucs are right back at it Tuesday, June 14, at Claremont High School vs The California Cage Rats. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 pm. Follow the @VCBucs on Instagram for more details on the game broadcast.