Late Surge Falls Short for Pirates
The Ventura College baseball team rallied late but could not overcome an early deficit, falling 6-4 to Irvine Valley Tuesday afternoon at Pirate Park. The Pirates pulled within one with a two-run eighth inning, but an IVC insurance run in the ninth set the final margin. Brandon Contreras led the Pirates’ attack, recording two hits, including a triple, and driving in two runs. Aiden Nykoluk also had a pair of hits and scored a run.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
The Ventura College baseball team rallied late but could not overcome an early deficit, falling 6-4 to Irvine Valley Tuesday afternoon at Pirate Park. The Pirates pulled within one with a two-run eighth inning, but an IVC insurance run in the ninth set the final margin. Brandon Contreras led the Pirates' attack, recording two hits, including a triple, and driving in two runs. Aiden Nykoluk also had a pair of hits and scored a run.
The Lasers set the tone with a three-run first inning and never trailed. Ventura answered quickly with a run in the bottom of the first and added another in the third to trim the margin to 3-2. The Pirates' staff kept the game within reach through the middle innings, but single runs by Irvine Valley in the sixth, eighth and ninth ultimately provided just enough separation.
Ventura starter Daniel Morge turned in a competitive outing despite taking the loss. The right-hander worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. After Irvine Valley's early three-run first, Morge settled in and kept IVC off the board through the next four frames, giving the Pirate offense a chance to chip away at the deficit.
Offensively, Ventura finished with nine hits and six walks and threatened throughout, leaving nine runners on base. The Pirates scored in the first and third innings to stay within a run, then mounted its biggest push in the eighth, plating two to cut Irvine's lead to 5-4 and bring the tying run into play before the Lasers escaped the inning.
Hector Pina batted in a run and scored once while Grant Rodriguez had an RBI. James Luderer scored the other run for VC.
Despite the loss, Ventura's late surge and clean defensive effort — the Pirates did not commit an error — provided positives to build on as the season moves forward. With Contreras sparking the offense and the pitching staff settling in after a difficult first inning, Ventura showed resilience and will look to turn that competitiveness into results as the schedule continues Wednesday Feb. 4 with a home contest against West Los Angeles. First pitch is slated for 2:00 pm.