Saints March to Victory Over CCL Bucs

June 28, – LOS ANGLES –

After working himself into a 3-1 count, Saints nine-hitter Dalton Ney expressed his apparent displeasure with his spot in the order, launching a two-run bomb over the 374 sign at Jackie Robinson Memorial Field in Brookside park Wednesday. The second-inning blast gave the Saints a 4-1 lead in what would be an 8-5 home victory over the CCl Bucs.

After the homer, Bucs manager George Vranau walked head down to the mound toward starter Matthew Sox as Ventura relievers began to play catch in the bullpen. Sox had allowed four runs and relinquished the lead in the second after pitching a solid first inning. He finished the second but was replaced in the third and was tagged with the loss.

Ney’s homer proved a controversial call in the top half of the inning to be ultimately inconsequential. With a one run lead, Bucs center fielder Cole Kleszcz bounced a hooking liner off the chalk behind third for an apparent RBI double, but the ball was called foul. He struck out in the at-bat and the Bucs failed to bring home a runner from third base in the inning.

Kleszcz’s misfortune, however, was more foreboding than it was decisive; the Bucs struggled to bring in baserunners all evening. Their 10 hits resulted in just five runs. Ventura’s inability to score was most prominent against relief pitchers. Ney’s homer afforded the Saints the offensive cushion neccesarry to use seven different pitchers comfortably. Resultingly, Ventura could not string productive at-bats together in the late innings. In their final 10 outs, four Bucs runners were either stranded on or erased from second base.

Arroyo Seco’s eight runs came on nine hits Wednesday.

Jake Selco, Kaleb Famer, and Anthony Parisi – the five, six, and nine hitters, respectively – accounted for all of Ventura’s runs. All three players hit for three total bases and recorded a double. Parisi scored twice.

Wednesday’s game was the last as a Saint for left fielder, Roy Verdejo. He was honored with an ovation from the Brookside crowd when he was defensively replaced with two outs in the ninth.

Ventura will be hosted Friday June 29, by San Louis Obisbo Blue at Sinsheimer Park. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.