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Coming off a high-scoring win Monday night, The Ventura County Pirates (6-9-1) (5-2 Best of the West) found themselves in a pitchers duel Wednesday evening versus the first place Inland Valley Pirates. Ventura County stunted Inland Valley en route to a 4-2 victory, their fourth in a row.
After an apparent injury to Ventura County’s starter, RHP Alex Abott was handed the ball in the second inning.
“I came in earlier than I expected and just wanted to give my team a chance to win,” Abott said.
Abott had not pitched in about 14 days so it was unclear of how long he would last. Nonetheless, Abbott put on a pitching clinic, consistently inducing weak contact and putting himself ahead in counts. He was able to eat innings for the pitching staff finishing his outing with 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER and 1 K.
“My fastball and slider were really working for me,” said Abott. “Being able to play off those two pitches and getting a lot of weak contact really worked well for me.”
As for the offense, their first taste of action came in the third when catcher Jack Burke would get the first hit of the game with one out. Right fielder Ryan Camacho followed that up with a walk and center fielder Jovan Camacho advanced both runners on a ground ball to short, leaving two men in scoring position with left fielder Robbie Treto up. Treto has been hot as of late and it continued Tuesday as he scored both runners on a single giving Ventura County a 2-0 lead.
After Abbott, RHP Daniel Parra entered in relief. Parra has faced Inland Valley once already and it did not go his way last time out. This time around Parra was a victim of errors from the defense behind him allowing Inland Valley to score one. He finished the inning allowing 0 H, 1 K and 0 ER.
With the score at 2-1 heading into the top of the 7th, a double steal induced an Inland Valley throwing error scoring Ventura County second baseman Nolan Lingley.
With three innings left to play leading 3-1, the Pirates turned to their most reliable late-inning pitcher, Josh Yosfan. Yosfan up to this point had a 0.00 ERA in 11 innings of work. As expected, Yosfan went out there and pitched the last three innings of the game with ease earning his third save of the season. Inland Valley was able to grab one on him but it would not be enough because the Pirates had added an insurance run in the top half of the ninth thanks to a double from shortstop Angelo Aleman scoring Tovar who had previously reached on a fielder's choice.
Yosfan would finish his outing with 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER and 1 K.
Everything is clicking for the Ventura County Pirates as that is now four wins in a row. They will look to keep it going Wednesday evening as they’re on the road for a third straight game versus Conejo Oaks at California Lutheran University. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PST. For more information visit the @vcountypirates on Instagram, @vcountypirates on twitter, and @venturacountypirates on Facebook.
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