Bucs Look To Win Season Series Against OC Legends

Bucs LHP Ian Nord pitches against the Field Rats at LA Valley College July 16, 2022. Photo by Maddy Whiting

Bucs Looking To Get Hot

Coming off a high scoring affair where the Bucs won 15-9 versus the Arroyo Seco Royals, the Bucs (11-10) are on the road to La Quinta High School, in preparation for the OC Legends (9-12). This will be the third and final matchup this season between the two, with the Bucs splitting the season series and overall posting solid offensive numbers (.303 AVG, .775 OPS) against the Legends.

With playoffs around the corner, the Bucs are currently sitting at the 5 seed right now with only 3 games left in the season. With a win today they can secure a playoff spot as the 5 seed. However, they are also only 2 games out of second place which means that the Bucs can jump all the way to second place if they win their last 3 games while having the other teams in front of them lose as well.

Stay Hot Offense

The Bucs offense has been electric all season, batting .289 as a team with a .406 slugging percentage. In particular, Trent Turquand has been on a hot streak batting .529 in his last 5 games. It isn’t just Turquand though because of the 13 Bucs players with at least 32 at bats, 7 of them are batting over .300. Also, look for the top of the lineup to stay aggressive on the base paths as Rowan Teran has 7 stolen bases on the season while Kai Moran leads the team with 10.

Pitching Needing Assistance

The Bucs pitching staff has had its struggles throughout the season as they are heading into Friday’s contest with a combined 6.17 ERA and 1.91 WHIP. That’s not to say that things aren’t looking up, as the Bucs are getting a much needed boost to the pitching staff with Ventura County Pirates pitcher John Paul Caire getting the start today for the Bucs. With the Pirates, Caire is posting a 3.71 ERA and 1.53 WHIP while also being selected as a Best of the West all star. Despite entering Friday’s matchup with an overall team ERA of 6.71, the Bucs have found sparks in the likes of lefty Ian Nord and righty Jakub Amado, who have posted respective ERAs of 3.33 and 4.32

League Record … 11-10

at home: 6-6

on the road: 4-5

Team Leaders …

Hits: Kai Moran (27)

Home runs: Rowan Teran & Kai Moran (2)

Triples: Kai Moran (2)

Doubles: Trent Turquand & Anthony Chavez (6)

Runs: Trent Turquand (18)

RBIs: Kai Moran (22)

Strikeouts: Jakub Amado (25)

ERA: Iann Nord (3.33)