Vigilantes Find Ways to Beat the Heat

Sunday baseball at Saddleback Stadium is supposed to be fraught with peril for pitchers, thanks to the small ballpark and the swirling breezes ready to blow hits out to all fields.

But Vigilantes right-hander Mike Smith went six strong innings in an 8-5 victory over the Chico Heat in front of 2,262.

In raising the Vigilantes’ record to 2-1, Smith kept the Heat hitless for four innings. He made his only mistake in the fifth, a high slider that was belted over the left-field fence by Chico left fielder Wes Hawkins for a three-run homer.

Smith pitched out of a two-on, one-out situation in the sixth before turning the game over to reliever Aaron Magdaleno.

“In the fifth, I had a mental lapse,” Smith said. “I’ll say I thought about a no-hitter, and [when Heat catcher Brian Arntzen led off with a single] I let some things get away.”

By then Smith (1-0) had plenty of room for error, as his teammates took an 8-0 lead after four innings.

Sam Taylor roasted Heat starter Rafael Novoa (0-1) for three hits--including two homers--three runs scored and two RBIs. All in the first three innings.

“After that exciting win [Saturday] night, we wanted to stay aggressive today,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t looking for home runs, I was just hoping to hit the ball on the good part of the bat.”

Also helping out in a big way was designated hitter Carl Nichols, who drove in two runs with a single and sacrifice fly. Nichols, who also doubled, has seven hits in his first 12 at-bats.

The Vigilantes had 13 hits in the game, and for the second consecutive day looked more like the team Manager Buck Rodgers envisioned.

The Vigilantes got some good news after the game: Mark Tranberg, who was forced to leave Saturday’s game because of a strained right shoulder, was examined Sunday and no more serious injury was found. Rodgers said Tranberg will miss his next scheduled start, “then we’ll see.”