Bucs Pick Up First CPCL Win of the Season

The Inland Valley Bucs and Pirates met for a clash at Azusa Pacific on Wednesday. The Bucs’ last action was a Sunday Doubleheader against the Palm Springs Power at UC Riverside. 

The Bucs played well against the Power, almost beating them in an 11-10 thriller, before losing the second game of the day 6-1. 

The Pirates came into the game undefeated, beating the Bucs once and the Colton Nighthawks twice, averaging over 14 runs a game. 

Wednesday’s game would be different for the Pirates. Bucs’ pitching dominated from the start. Bucs’ starter Austin Klopfenstein pitched three shutout innings, allowing only four hits. 

Pirates’ pitching was solid as well, but the Bucs were still able to work one run off of starter Tre Minisee in the second and third. 

Chris Gonzales relieved Klopfenstein and continued the shutout into the fourth and fifth. In the sixth, the Pirates finally got multiple runners on base. George Holt singled into left to bring in the first run. Sonny Rios hit a hard ground ball to second base, which was bobbled, allowing another run to score.  

After the successful rally, it appeared that the Pirates were back in the game, but defensive errors in the bottom half of the inning hurt them badly. 

The Bucs led off with a single. A ball hit to the Pirates’ shortstop looked like a sure double play, but the ball was dropped, allowing both runners to reach safely. Bucs’ first baseman Samples hit a double two batters later to drive both runners in. 

Minisee issued a walk and then allowed another double to bring in two more runs, before finally getting out of the inning. 

Wyatt Pireto and Andrew Sanchez pitched the rest of the game for the Pirates, only allowing one more run, but the damage was done, and the offense was held at bay over the final three innings. 

The score of 7-2 would hold, giving the Pirates their first loss of the year. The pitching performance from the Bucs was spectacular and definitely their best so far. 

The Bucs and Pirates will meet again on June 19th at Azusa Pacific for the chance for one of the teams to take the series lead.