Bucs are Game Enough

The Inland Valley Bucs (1-0) got off to a great start to their season defeating the Gamers 13-3 Wednesday night at Cal Poly Pomona.

The Bucs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning on consecutive two-out hits by Sheldon Borson, Kyle Jackson and Todd Yost.

The Bucs fell behind 3-2 in the top of the fifth, but responded immediately in the bottom of the frame with a seven-spot.

Just as both runs in the second came with two outs, so too did all seven runs in the inning. Aaron McCann walked and scored. Justin Gomez cranked a RBI double and scored. Dylan Lowenstein walked and scored. Gehrig Vargas had a RBI knock and Brad Lewis had a two-run double. Borson and Jackson each tacked on another run to give the Bucs a 9-3 lead.

Inland Valley scored once more in the sixth and eighth and two more runs in the ninth.

While the offense was in mid-season form, the pitching stymied the opposition as well. Vini Haro struck out four in two innings, Jacob Battaglia only allowed one hit in two innings, Cody Maples retired the side in on inning of work, Logan Lannon and  Nate Alam also pitched scoreless innings.

The Bucs take on the San Diego Invaders at 4:30 p.m. at Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday.

Lineup AB R H RBI BB K
Dylan Lowenstein 3 1 2 0 2 0
Jacob Battaglia
Vini Haro
Todd Yost 5 0 3 2 0 2
Tim Olvaney
Justin Gomez 3 1 2 1 2 1
Nate Alam 1 0 0 0 0 1
Kyle Jackson 4 2 3 2 0 1
Jake Scott 5 2 1 0 1 1
Jordan Hernandez 3 0 0 0 0 0
Brandon Benson 3 0 0 0 0 2
Gehrig Vargas 3 1 2 2 0 0
Brad Lewis 3 1 1 2 0 1
Cody Maples
Sheldon Borson 4 3 3 0 1 0
Aaron McCann 3 1 0 0 1 3
Anthony Virgen 2 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Mora 2 1 1 0 0 1
Logan Lannon
Totals 44 13 18 9 7 13

Batting2B: Dylan Lowenstein, Justin Gomez, Kyle Jackson, Brad Lewis
3B: Jake Scott
TB: Dylan Lowenstein 3, Todd Yost 3, Justin Gomez 3, Kyle Jackson 4, Jake Scott 3, Gehrig Vargas 2, Brad Lewis 2, Sheldon Borson 3, Michael Mora
RBI: Todd Yost 2, Justin Gomez, Kyle Jackson 2, Gehrig Vargas 2, Brad Lewis 2

Pitching IP #P S% H R ER K BB HR
Jacob Battaglia 2.0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Vini Haro 2.0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0
Tim Olvaney 2.0 0 3 3 3 2 1 0
Nate Alam 1.0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0
Cody Maples 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Logan Lannon 1.0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 9.0 0 7 3 3 8 4 0

PitchingW: Tim Olvaney
HBP: Jacob Battaglia

OC Bucs Bats Come Alive Late

The OC Buccaneers (7-8) offense erupted for 10 runs in the final few innings as they blanked the So Cal Sharks, 10-0.

The Bucs, who were held to just two hits through the first five innings, put up a late rally while taking advantage of some defensive miscues by the Sharks.

A well-pitched game on both sides, early on, the contest was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Bucs plated the first runs of the game on a two-run double by David Johnson.

In the seventh inning, Connor Shepherd laced a two out, RBI double down the right field line to stretch the lead to 3-0.

In the eighth, the Bucs cleared the deck and broke the game wide open as they batted around for a seven-run outburst that included RBI singles from David Johnson, Jacob Blackiston, and David Grubaugh.

The Bucs pitching staff held the Sharks silent and preserved the shutout victory.

David Johnson was the offensive hero for the Bucs, going a perfect 2-for-2 and driving in three runs.

Jacob Battaglia earned the victory in relief as he tossed three shutout innings and struck out six.

The Bucs will try to carry this momentum over to Friday when they take on the Inland Empire Senators at La Sierra. Gametime is 1 p.m.