Arnold Covers All Bases to Help Pierce Beat Moorpark, 3-2, in 11

Pierce College outfielder Joey Arnold is the type of player who does not like to leave the field until he has had his taste of dirt, grass, chalk or anything else one encounters diving for a ball or a base.

But Thursday afternoon at Moorpark, Arnold used a pair of textbook swings to sample another part of the game--the limelight.

Arnold blasted a one-out home run to center in the 11th inning Thursday to lift Pierce to a 3-2 Western State Conference win.

“Everyone picks each other up on this team and today was my day,” said Arnold, whose first homer of the season was preceded by his ninth-inning triple that helped send the game into extra innings. “You could make a movie out of that one.”

But if Arnold, who had just three home runs last year, found himself in the starring role Thursday, Moorpark pitcher Jason Mitchell was cast as the tragic hero.

A hard-throwing right-hander with a dancing slider, Mitchell (2-2) turned in a memorable 11-inning outing in which he yielded nine hits and two earned runs while striking out seven. Mitchell threw 121 pitches, but it only took a couple to cost him a victory.

The first was the pitch that Arnold pulled to the base of the right-field fence for a triple to lead off the ninth. One batter later, Arnold scored on a sacrifice fly by Brian Smith to tie the score, 2-2.

The second crucial pitch was a low fastball that Arnold lined to the right of the 380-foot sign in center for the home run that helped Pierce improve to 11-1-1 overall, 3-0 in conference play.

The win went to reliever Paul Geller (1-0), who came in from second base and did not allow a hit over the final two innings after starter Mike Eby battled through the first nine.

Moorpark (7-5, 1-2) took a 2-1 lead in the first on a two-run, opposite-field homer by designated hitter Jeff Sommer. From that point, Mitchell dominated the Pierce batters and Eby managed to keep Moorpark off the board despite giving up nine hits.

Moorpark, which left 10 runners on base, got three hits from Del Marine. Erik Martinez had three hits for Pierce.