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The Ventura County Pirates (12-11-1) (11-3 league), pulled out a 9-5 victory over the 1st place Inland Valley Pirates in a back and forth game Saturday afternoon at LAVC.
Inland Valley struck first in the top of the 1st, taking a 1-0 lead to start the game, The Pirates responded with three runs in the bottom of the first however, with Quint Landis singling home Ryan Camacho, and Andrew Tovar singling home Jovan Camacho and Andrew Boglino to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead.
The game then remained 3-1 until the 6th inning, with Pirates starter Andrew Dusablon pitching 4 solid innings and reliever Alex Abbot (3-1) pitching a 1-2-3 fifth. Inland Valley plated 3 runs in the 6th inning however, retaking the lead at 4-3.
With the Pirates needing a response in the bottom of the 7th, Andrew Tovar stepped up to the plate with two men on base and delivered a 2 RBI double to give the Pirates the lead back at 5-4. Tovar finished the game with 2 hits and 4 RBI, powering the Pirates Offense with runners in scoring position.
“Just staying back and keeping it simple, making sure I see the ball and hit the pitches where they are thrown where they can be hit,” Tovar said.
The Pirates added two more runs in the inning off of a Dan Laughery RBI triple and Lee Brandzel single to take a 7-4 lead. In the 8th inning, a Quint Landis 2 RBI double brought in two more runs and gave the Pirates a comfortable 9-4 lead.
Inland Valley scored a run in the ninth, but Kellan Montgomery shut it down and earned the save on the mound and his second save of the season to secure the 9-5 win and keep the Pirates undefeated at home on the season.
“Offensively I thought we did a real good job, early in the game we had a couple of at bats with runners in scoring position, but then we did improve that,” Coach George Vranau said.
The Pirates will look to continue their charge towards first place when they host the Inland Valley Bucs tomorrow at 11 at LAVC.
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