Nipomo's baseball team was sharp. Cabrillo's was not.

Titans starting pitcher Joe Delfin two-hit the Conquistadores through six innings, Andy Bachtel pitched a hitless seventh, and Nipomo racked up 10 hits in an 8-1 win in a Central Coast Pre-season Tournament game at Nipomo Thursday.

Nipomo (4-0) was errorless. The Conquistadores (2-2) had some solid fielding, but they made two errors and mis-played a few other balls.

Relief pitching was a Cabrillo bright spot. Deuce Galvan pitched a scoreless fifth inning. Justin Boggs pitched a 1-2-3 sixth.

Delfin helped himself by going 3-for-3 and driving in two runs. First baseman Mason Sperakos was 3-for-4 and drove in two runs himself.

Titans catcher Manny Reyes scored Sperakos with a double that got between Cabrillo's center and right fielders in the first inning. He plated Chris Schweigl with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Cabrillo starting pitcher Aaron Naputi scored the visitors' run in the second inning. He was hit by a pitch, went to third on Brian Engler's double, then scored on a wild pitch.

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Sperakos and Delfin said it was nice that their team was 4-0. In fact, they said the Titans' varsity had never BEEN 4-0.

The Titans have traditionally hit well but, “We've had problems with errors sometimes,” said Sperakos, a senior who is a three-year varsity letter winner.

Sperakos said, “It's going better now. We're really looking forward to the start of league games.”

The Titans finished last in the PAC-7 last year but are on a roll after winning their pre-season finale impressively. Nipomo opens its PAC-7 campaign at 4:30 p.m. next Tuesday at home against Atascadero.

Delfin is another senior. He's been on Nipomo's varsity since the second half of his sophomore season. He didn't give the Conqs much in his first start this season.

Delfin said, “I like to throw the off-speed pitch low in the strike zone, make hitters hit the ball, get outs.” That's what he did Thursday.

The right-hander struck out only three, but he induced a lot of grounders and routine fly balls. His fielders took care of the rest.

Nipomo coach Jim Fisher said, “We did the little things today. We work hard, and we really work a lot on the little things.”

The Titans put space between themselves and the Conqs quickly Thursday. The home team led 5-1 after three innings.

Fisher said, “It was a complete game for us. Cabrillo's usually one of the stronger teams in the Los Padres League, and we wanted to use this game as a test, as a launching pad to see where we are.

“Obviously we were encouraged.”

PAC-7 League teams will play weekly three-game series against each other for the second consecutive year. Nipomo plays Atascadero Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Pioneer Valley 12, Coast Union 3

The Panthers went to 3-1 as their pitchers one-hit the Cambria-based Broncos in a CCPT game at Pioneer Valley.

Joe Perez pitched the first 2 2/3 innings for Pioneer Valley. Edgar Enriquez went the rest of the way. Umpires called the game in the bottom of the sixth inning because of the run rule.

Robert Dulay doubled and went 2-for-3 for the Panthers. He drove in a run. Joe Pugner (2-for-3) drove in three round, and Albert Squires knocked in two. Coast Union scored a run on no hits in the third inning and two runs on one hit and two errors in the fourth.

Softball

Paso Robles 3, St. Joseph 0

The Bearcats' (12-0) unbeaten softball juggernaut rolled on in a non-league game at Paso Robles.

Both teams had four hits, but Paso Robles relief pitcher Michelle Moses smacked a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Shayli Swaim doubled for St. Joseph (2-3). Kailey Snyder pitched another solid game for the Knights.

The Bearcats' team batting average going into the game was .243. Their team ERA, however, was .467. Stacy Salazar was the Bearcats' starting pitcher. Moses, the ace of the staff the past two years, came on in the fifth.

Boys Tennis

St. Joseph 17, Templeton 1

The Knights (3-0, 7-0) nearly scored a clean sweep in a LPL home match.

Jake Eszes didn't drop a game as he swept three singles sets. Samuel Orozco and Kji Hamill lost four games total in three doubles sets.

Joseph Fischer-Ortiz swept three sets in singles. Broderick Cooper and James Xing, and Eric Okerblom and Brian Turton swept three doubles sets.

Lompoc 14, Santa Maria 4

Anthony Yang and Kyle Thumm, and Joel Martin and Jesus Abrego each swept three sets as the Braves racked up eight doubles wins at the Minami Center.

Alex Jensen swept three singles sets for Lompoc. Daniel Borcherding won twice in singles for the Saints (0-3 LPL, 1-4 overall).

Santa Ynez 15, Cabrillo 3

At Santa Ynez, Pirates ace Juan Ferrer and Evan Ineman both swept 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 as the Pirates (3-4 overall) squared their Los Padres League record at 1-1.

Cabrillo's doubles tandem of Andrew Shewell and Ryan Anderson earned two points. Pirates doubles tandems Curtis Cole and Miles Seemann, and Brandon Mann and Austin White each swept three sets.

College Baseball

Cuesta 21, Hancock 2

St. Joseph graduate Brian McConkey went 4-for-4, drove in three runs and scored thrice as the Cougars routed the Bulldogs in Western State Conference action at Cuesta.

Corey Dotzler hit a solo home run for Hancock, which takes on Cuesta at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hancock's John Osborne Field.

Men's tennis

Bakersfield 9, Hancock 0

Rob Hansen and Jose Angulo came the closest to winning a set for the Bulldogs as the Renegades swept Hancock at Bakersfield. Chuck Provencio and Damon Magana edged the Hancock pair 9-8 in the number one doubles match.

Women's tennis

Bakersfield 8, Hancock 1

Ashley Brady and Kacie Guggia won 8-5 in the number two doubles match for Hancock's only point in this WSC match at Bakersfield.

March 14, 2008