Moorpark Finally Hits a High Note in 13-12 Victory

A bunch of banjo hitters throughout the Western State Conference season, the Moorpark College baseball team turned into a rap group Saturday at Ventura.

With nine runs in six previous WSC games, Moorpark was as cold as Vanilla Ice. However, the Raiders broke out of their slump Saturday, pounding out a season-high 20 hits and overcoming a three-run, ninth-inning deficit to defeat Ventura, 13-12, in 10 innings. Moorpark, a WSC tri-champion last year, picked up its first conference victory in seven tries.

“We had some guys who broke through and hit the ball today,” Moorpark Coach Ken Wagner said. “Maybe we’ve turned the corner a little bit.”

Del Marine scored the winning run in the 10th inning on J. B. Johnson’s single and led the Moorpark attack with a single, double and home run, his second of the season. Chris Intelkoffer also hit his second home run. Jeff Sommer and Chris Chandler added four and three hits, respectively, for Moorpark (9-11).

Moorpark trailed, 12-9--”It looked like 100 runs,” Wagner said--entering the ninth but scored three runs on a pair of two-out singles. Phil Sedran bounced a full-count, run-scoring single up the middle to make it 12-10, and Chandler followed with a flare single to right that tied the score.

Ventura (16-6, 3-4) had the potential winning run at second in the bottom of the ninth, but Moorpark’s Rob Teasdale retired three consecutive batters to quell the threat. The sophomore right-hander, also pitched a scoreless 10th to pick up the win in his first decision of the season.

Teasdale, Moorpark’s top reliever, thanked Wagner afterward for leaving him in the game, but during the game the Ventura batters likely were thanking Wagner for the same reason.

Teasdale relieved starter Mike Jenkins in the eighth and gave up hits to four of the first six batters he faced.

“I wasn’t into the game in that first inning,” Teasdale said. “I just wasn’t focused.”

Suddenly, a 9-7 Moorpark lead was a three-run Ventura cushion at 12-9.

“God, I was looking at 0-20 (in conference) when we lost that lead,” Wagner said.

No lead was safe, though. With a flag-snapping wind blowing out to center, it was a hitter’s day at Ventura, and the lead changed hands four times.

Moorpark led, 4-1, after two innings, trailed, 5-4, after three, and led, 9-5, after six.

Ventura finished with 16 hits. Kasha Clemons and Darrell McMillin each had four hits, and Carlos Rios had a double and a solo home run. Eric Raba, Ventura’s fourth pitcher, took the loss.

“We’ve always thought they were a good team,” Ventura Coach Gary Anglin said, “and right now we’re not.”