Ventura Stumbles Early in Loss, 9-0

Ventura High hoped to make a move for the Channel League baseball title Tuesday. Instead, the Cougars tripped coming out of the starting blocks.

Santa Barbara capitalized on two errors to score four unearned runs in the first inning, and the Dons rode the right arm of pitcher Matt Vasquez for a 9-0 victory at Ventura College.

Vasquez (8-1) threw a one-hitter, striking out eight and walking three.

“The game was over after the first inning,” Ventura Coach Dan Smith said. “We had our bubble popped.”

The Cougars finished with three errors, contributing to six unearned runs by Santa Barbara (15-3, 8-0 in league play), which opened a two-game lead over Ventura (13-7-1, 6-2-1).

Chris Vega led off the second inning with a single for Ventura’s only hit, but he was picked off first by Vasquez.

Jon Bierly (5-3) went the distance for the Cougars, allowing 12 hits. He struck out nine.

Jon Combs went four for four with three runs batted in. His two-run homer in the third gave Santa Barbara a 7-0 lead.

Westlake 10, Merced Golden Valley 0--Tyler Adamczyk, Justin Blaine and Daniel Garcia combined on a one-hitter and Michael Nickeas had three doubles and three RBIs for the Warriors (18-1) in the first round of the West Coast Classic at Santa Clara University.

The game was called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.

Adamczyk (5-0) allowed no hits and struck out four in three innings. He was relieved by Blaine, who gave up a fifth-inning single, and Garcia, who pitched the sixth.

Westlake collected 17 hits, including nine in the first two innings against Stanford-bound Andrew Erlich (7-1) to take a 7-0 lead.

Nickeas, Jesse Kozlowski and Jeff Dragicevich each went three for three for the Warriors.

Hart 11, Burbank 0--Matt Friedrichsen hit his first home run of the season in a Foothill League game at Hart that was halted in the sixth inning because of the 10-run rule.

Friedrichsen, who tied a school record with 11 home runs last season, hit a grand slam in the sixth for Hart (17-4, 9-1). Brandon Montemayor hit a three-run homer.

Burroughs 10, Valencia 1--Mike Silva had a home run, a double, three RBIs and scored twice for the Indians (15-6, 4-6) in a Foothill League victory at Burroughs.

Crespi 10, St. Paul 1--Clint Kofmehl had eight strikeouts and gave up only four hits through six innings, and Garett Tabarez had three hits and two RBIs for the Celts (17-3-1) in a third-round victory in the St. Paul tournament.

Crescenta Valley 16, Hoover 6--Mark McCauley had five hits and five RBIs, including a two-run triple and a two-run double, for host Crescenta Valley (12-7, 8-1) in a Pacific League game at Stengel Field that was called after six innings because of the 10-run rule.

Roy Spaulding hit a grand slam for the Falcons.

Campbell Hall 11, Whitney 1--Matt Kaplan (4-2) threw a one-hitter and struck out 14 for the visiting Vikings (12-6, 5-0) in a Delphic League victory at Cerritos Park East.

Blake Lichtig had three hits and three RBIs.

Granada Hills 12, Birmingham 11--Ed Degerman’s second single in a six-run seventh inning drove in the winning run in a West Valley League game at Granada Hills.

Bobby Baca hit a three-run home run during the rally for the Highlanders (12-8, 4-5).

John Voita hit his 10th home run for Granada Hills, tied with Birmingham for third place.

Jeremy McGrath had three hits including a two-run double for Birmingham (14-8, 4-5).

Cleveland 11, Taft 3--Nick Arroyo had three RBIs and scored twice, and sophomore Chad Novick pitched a five-hitter with four strikeouts for the Cavaliers (9-11, 2-7) in a West Valley League victory at Cleveland.

Kennedy 12, Reseda 0--Danny Mata pitched a no-hitter in a Valley Mission League game at Reseda that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Mata (6-1) struck out 10 and walked two. He also had a two-run single in the third inning for Kennedy (14-9, 7-2).

San Fernando 5, Van Nuys 0--Jose Montes took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but Abel Pulido hit a lead-off single in a Valley Mission League game at San Fernando.

Montes had a two-run triple in the first inning for the Tigers (12-10, 7-2).

Sylmar 8, Monroe 0--Ivan Lopez and Greg Ramos combined on a one-hitter in a Valley Mission League game at Monroe.

Lopez (5-3) pitched five innings before being relieved by Ramos. Eddie Camacho had three hits and four RBIs for the Spartans (13-7, 6-3).