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The Ventura County Pirates came from behind for the second time this postseason, defeating the Inland Valley Pirates 5-2 to advance to their fifth consecutive championship series Thursday afternoon at Scolinos Field at Cal Poly Pomona.
Starting RHP Deandre Carter kept the game close after giving up two early runs, pitching 4 more scoreless innings, striking out a batter, and earning the win on the day.
“Being able to be strong with my command, still having confidence in my teammates to make plays behind me,” Carter said. “I felt like I wasn’t going to break this whole game.”
The breakthrough for Ventura County came in the fifth, with second baseman Nolan Lingley first hitting a sacrifice fly to score designated hitter Andrew Tovar. Then outfielder Ryan Camacho roped an RBI single to score outfielder Dan Laughery and record his third hit of the day.
An RBI double by outfielder Jovan Camacho gave Ventura their first lead at 3-2 after shortstop Angelo Aleman scored. Ventura County then added two more runs in the 6th after first baseman Eli Paton scored on a wild pitch and Andrew Tovar scored on a Nolan Lingley RBI groundout.
Paton’s run came after he led off the inning with a double, continuing his offensive hot streak over the last five games. He is hitting .222 with 4 extra base hits during that span.
Reliever Xavier Stoker would pitch three scoreless innings to secure the victory, securing his first save of the postseason and advancing Ventura County to the championship series once again.
“It was a good team effort and it puts us in the finals for the fifth straight year of this league and we’ve been in the league five years,” Coach Vranau said. “All five years, the championship has gone through us.”
Ventura County will begin the Championship series Friday night at 6pm at Scolinos Field against the Inland Valley Pirates, a rematch of last season’s championship series.