Valley Caught in Speed Trap by Ventura, 9-3

Seeing how his off-speed pitches were not bending Thursday, Valley College right-hander Tim DeGrasse tried to pull a fast one on Ventura batters.

A few fast ones, to be exact.

But it did not take long for the would-be victims to catch onto, and tear into, the not-so-slick fastballs. By the sixth inning, the pivotal Western State Conference baseball game--and DeGrasse--was finished.

Ventura erupted for seven runs in the fifth inning and cruised to a 9-3 victory at Valley.

By winning, Ventura (23-8 overall, 11-3 in conference play) not only completed a regular-season sweep of the Monarchs, but took a one-game lead over second-place College of the Canyons in the conference standings.

Ventura pitcher Shane Espitia allowed a run in the first inning and two more in the third, but soon found a groove. Espitia, the Channel League Player of the Year for Ventura High two seasons ago, struck out 10 and scattered eight hits in seven innings.

“It’s been taking me a while to get in the game lately, I don’t know what it is,” said Espitia, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers two years ago. “The ball was moving a lot today and that helped.”

Pirate catcher Joel Gaxiola was able to move the ball, too. He singled twice and had a double in three at-bats, scoring three runs and driving in two.

Gaxiola also had a hand in the Pirates’ game-breaking rally.

With Ventura trailing, 3-2, in the fifth, Mike Spencer tripled and both Darren Lloyd and Brent Cookson walked. Gaxiola singled in Spencer and Lloyd and Cookson scored on a wild pitch.

Darrell McMillin followed with a single, scoring Gaxiola, before Chris Ames walked.

DeGrasse, in his first home start of the season, did not abandon the fastball. So David Eggert and Michael Teron swung with abandon, drilling back-to-back doubles to drive in three more runs.

That was enough for Valley Coach Chris Johnson, who pulled DeGrasse in favor of Mike Roberts. In the final 3 1/3 innings, Roberts struck out five and did not allow a hit.

The Monarchs (23-7-1, 8-5) scored in the first when Greg Struhl singled to score Mike Caputi, who reached base on a walk and advanced with a steal.

In the third inning, E. J. Pape hit a ground-rule double, scoring Caputi and Mark Cavarretta.

The loss was hardly indicative of the turnaround DeGrasse has made this season. DeGrasse (7-1), a sophomore right-hander from Notre Dame High, has baffled batters with a wicked curve this season, in marked contrast to last season when he posted a 3-8 record.

Ventura Coach Gary Anglin said the missed pitches were not entirely DeGrasse’s fault.

“The umpire’s strike zone was real, real tight and he forced both pitchers to come in there,” Anglin said. “Everybody was behind in the count quite a bit.”

Anglin added that with six conference games remaining, the Pirates have yet to peak.

“I don’t want to sound apprehensive and I definitely don’t want to sound overconfident,” he said. “We have to go out and do this every day, and if our pitchers can stay in the groove like this, we’ll be OK.”