Riverside Wins Duel Against Rancho Santiago
Rancho Santiago’s Matt Ward and Riverside’s Cody Trask, despite very different styles, have been the top pitchers in the Orange Empire Conference.
The two met Thursday at Rancho Santiago and Trask was just a little bit better and the Tigers won, 4-2.
Trask, a hard-throwing right-hander, pitched a four-hitter to improve to 9-1. Ward, an easy-going left-hander who usually has excellent control, gave up eight hits and walked a season-high four in eight-plus innings and fell to 9-1. Ward had walked a total of six all season before Thursday.
Both pitchers were shaky early, trying to adjust to the umpire’s tight strike zone. Ward gave up single runs in the first three innings and Trask gave up runs in the first and third. Riverside got another run in the ninth on a wild pitch by reliever Heath Bell.
“That was just an outstanding [community] college game,” Riverside Coach Dennis Rogers said.
Rancho Santiago (35-5-1, 17-4) could have clinched a tie for the conference title but must wait until Saturday for another chance when the Dons play at noon at Orange Coast. Rancho Santiago, the top-ranked team in the state, has a two-game lead over Saddleback with three left.
Rancho Santiago got the leadoff batter on in the seventh when Eddie Mejia walked and again in the eighth when Joe Secoda singled but failed to advance either runner. In the eighth Trask got three consecutive flies to center field from Rancho Santiago’s third-, fourth- and fifth-place hitters.
“I didn’t have my best stuff,” said Trask, who beat Rancho Santiago, 11-2, earlier this season. “But it fired me up to be pitching against their best guy. I wanted to show I could compete with the best.”
Rancho Santiago had a chance to break open the game right away when Trask walked the first two batters and Erik Sobek doubled home Josh Reding. But Secoda, who was running on the pitch, was thrown out at the plate on the same play. Kevin Burford followed with a single that send Secoda to third but Trask got Rick Gonzalez to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Reding opened the third with a home run for Rancho Santiago. Jaeme Leal had an RBI single in the first and opened the third with a home run to break a 2-2 tie for Riverside (32-8, 13-7).