With Taylor in Control, Moorpark Beats Canyons

It was a case study of two pitchers, one in command of his deliveries for most of the game and the other struggling to stay on the hill.

For Moorpark College right-hander Brad Taylor, throwing strikes consistently paid big dividends as he led the Raiders to a 10-5 victory over College of the Canyons in a Western State Conference interdivisional game Tuesday.

His Cougar counterpart, right-hander Gary Stephenson, fought control problems during his 5 1/3-inning stint and his teammates could never quite do enough damage against Taylor in a game both teams desperately needed to win.

Moorpark (13-10-1, 6-3 in conference play) trails North Division-leading Cuesta (8-2) by 1 1/2 games. Canyons (9-14, 5-8), which has lost six consecutive games, fell three games behind front-running Pierce in the South Division.

“We are happy to get out of here with a win,” Moorpark Coach Ken Wagner said.

Taylor (3-2), a sophomore from Moorpark High, worked eight strong innings and got the offensive support he needed to pick up the victory. He allowed five hits, struck out 11 and walked four and did not give up a hit until Ted Kiester homered to right with one out in the fourth.

“Brad had a good curveball today and he was throwing it over for strikes,” Wagner said.

The Raiders broke away from a 4-2 lead with five runs in the sixth and cruised the rest of the way.

First baseman Aaron Fischer led off the inning with his fifth home run, a towering shot against Stephenson (2-3) that opened the floodgates.

Four hits and two walks later, including run-producing singles by Sean Mitchell and Ryan Briggs, and a sacrifice fly to center field by Kent Cote, and the Raiders had blown the game open against Stephenson and reliever Anthony Chessani.

Stephenson, who had done a commendable job of staying in the game and trailed only 4-2 after five innings despite yielding seven walks, threw 127 pitches and seemed to run out of steam.

And the Cougar bats didn’t seem to have much energy either.

Besides Kiester’s home run and a two-run shot by John Billingslea in the seventh after David Castillo reached base on an error, the Cougars managed only three other hits, all singles.

“We are not pitching in the clutch and we are not hitting in the clutch,” Canyons Coach Len Mohney said. “We are doubting ourselves now, I think.”