Baseball Bats Light Up, Defeating SBCC 9-2

TORRANCE, Calif. – The Warriors continued their winning streak, defeating Santa Barbara 9-2 at home. The Warriors faced the Vaqueros last week in Santa Barbara losing 9-4.

Taylor Rashi started on the mound for the Warriors and shut down the Vaqueros 1-2-3 in the 1^st inning. In the bottom of the 1^st, the Warriors loaded the bases. Trevor Casanova advanced to 3^rd off of a base hit from Ty Conrad. Following the base hit, Brady Dorn was walked, loading the bases. Ryan Eastburn singled bringing in Casanova and put the Warriors on the scoreboard.

Rashi showed consistency and had the Vaqueros 3 up, 3 down again. Back-to-back-to-back singles from Hunter Lewis, Cody Wissler and Casanova loaded the bases again for the Warriors. Brady Dorn walked, extending the lead 2-0. Angel Mora hit a base clearing triple, continuing the lead 5-0. The Warriors stayed hot and an RBI ground out from Eastburn, added another run and the Warriors lead 6-0 leading in to the 3^rd inning.

In the bottom of the 5^th, a base hit from Darian Sylvester advanced Ryan Eastburn to 2^nd base, and Eastburn scored on a wild pitch. The Warriors were up 7-0 heading in to the 6^th inning.

The Vaqueros pitched out of a jam with Warriors on 1^st and 2^nd base in the bottom of the 6^th. In the top of the 7^th, the Vaqueros answered back scoring 2 runs. Rashi put the inning to rest after striking out a Vaquero with runners on 1^st and 2^nd.

In the bottom of the 7^th, a base hit from Lewis brought in Sylvester, continuing the lead 8-2. Casanova kept the momentum by driving the ball over the centerfielder, which brought in another run, putting the score at 9-2.

Andy Monarrez was brought in to close in the 9^th inning, ending the game at 1-2-3. Warriors won 9-2.

Rashi pitched 8 innings, allowing 2 runs, 5 hits and 11 strikeouts. Coach Nathan Fernley commented, "He [Taylor Rashi] dictated tempo and was ahead a lot. He threw two pitches for strikes. And really in the 7^th inning, he pitched well. They ended up scoring two runs, and he did a really good job."

Monarrez pitched 1 innings, allowing no runs or hits, with 1 strikeout. Casanova went 2 for 3, with a double and 2 runs scored and 2 walks. Mora went 2 for 5, with a triple and 3 RBI. Eastburn went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Sylvester, Lewis and Wissler contributed 2 for 4.

"It came down to us throwing strikes. When we played at Santa Barbara, we walked a lot of guys, giving them a lot of free bases and did not play good defense. So the key today was that we threw strikes and played defense."
The Warriors play San Bernardino tomorrow at 12 pm at El Camino. 

Photos: Bill Hood