Baseball Falls to LA Valley 9-8 in 10-Inning Back-and-Forth

The VC baseball team  came up one run short Saturday afternoon, falling to LA Valley 9-8 in 10 innings, ending a back-and-forth contest that had three ties over the course of regulation play. James Luderer had three hits, including a double and a home run, while knocking in two runs and scoring two more. Grant Rodriguez also had three hits and Hector Pina recorded a pair of base knocks for VC (15-16, 8-7).  

The Pirates matched LA Valley for much of the day and finished with 12 hits while playing error-free baseball, but the extra-inning difference was enough to decide it. Ventura scored in six different innings, including a three-run eighth that helped keep pressure on the home team. The Pirates also added a run in the ninth to force the game into extra innings, showing resilience after trailing at multiple points. The game was tied at 2-2 in the middle of the third inning, 3-3 in the middle of the fifth, 7-7 in the middle of the eighth, and 8-8 after VC scored one run in the top of the ninth.

Luderer led Ventura's offense with a strong all-around game, going 3 for 5 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Rodriguez also collected three hits and scored twice, adding a triple to spark the Pirates' attack. VC finished with 10 runners left on base and drew four walks.

The line score reflected how tightly contested the game was. Ventura scored single runs in the first, third, fifth, sixth and ninth innings, then broke through with three in the eighth. LA Valley answered with two runs in the second, added single runs in the third, sixth, seventh and eighth, and scored twice in the fifth before finally ending it in the 10th.

VC begins their final three-game series of the season on Tuesday Apr. 7 at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.