Hitting For Three

It was winner take all. Whoever won the final regular season game between Lompoc and Santa Ynez would be the Los Padres League baseball champions.

And just like the last two seasons it was the Lompoc Braves who finished on top. Lompoc (9-3 LPL) scored seven runs in the fifth inning and five in the sixth as they rolled to a 15-3 win over the Pirates on Friday afternoon at Dan Bodary Field.

In 2007, the Braves were not picked to finish high in the league standings with a team heavy on youth, but won the title. This year with just four seniors - but with plenty of experience, Lompoc came through in league play once again.

Junior Dalton Rouleau pitched a complete game in a rare pitching start and had three hits, two runs and two RBIs at the plate. Seven Braves scored runs as the team pounded out 15 hits.

The Pirates (8-4 LPL) committed three errors in the third inning, leading to two Braves runs and breaking a 1-1 tie. In the fifth, the Braves exploded with seven runs on seven hits, a walk and one error. All seven hits were singles.

Ryan Bower led off the fifth with a single, moved to second when Brandon Alonzo walked. Kevin Erickson bunted to sacrifice the runners, but beat the throw to first for a single which loaded the bases.

Chris Mallory and Rouleau for two more runs. After Scott Aguailar hit a sacrifice fly that scored Erickson, Cody Berryman hit an RBI single. Daniel Mallory hit a single to right that was misplayed. Rouleau scored on the single and Berryman came all the way around to score on the error while Mallory went to third.

Richie Hirzel singled for the final run of the inning and Sean Rowan was relieved by Eric Carvahlo. Rowan was touched for 12 hits in four-plus innings one week after pitching a no-hitter against St. Joseph.

Lompoc scored five runs in the sixth with three walks and three hits, including RBI singles by Berryman, Daniel Mallory, who knocked in his brother Chris and an RBI walk by Hirzel.

“We took advantage of some opportunities,” said Lompoc coach Jim Allen. “For the most part we hit the ball well - we hit the ball right up the middle.

“But our guys made good approaches. They've been working all week on really improving their approaches at the plate. They did a good job at Cabrillo on Tuesday and they came in today and smacked the ball around and put pressure on the other team.”

Santa Ynez coach Dave Kuehn was disappointed in how his team played.

“We made some mental errors that we haven't done all year,” he said. “And you can't do that against Lompoc the way they are hitting the ball and executing.

“We shot ourselves in the foot. You have to give Lompoc credit - they did what they had to do. But I'm very disappointed in our effort.”

The tide changed badly for the Pirates in a game that Kuehn thought his team was ready for.

“We really felt, looking at them and the way they approached the game that we were prepared mentally for it,” Kuehn explained. “I think they were intense but not tense. Then all the sudden things started to develop and the wheels feel off the cart. They just pressed and nothing went right for us after that.”

Allen cited the team leaders for getting the team ready for the big game.

“We've been in these big games before and our seniors showed a lot of leadership today,” Allen said.

Alonzo had two hits with three runs scored, Erickson added two with a sac fly and a walk, while scoring twice and Chris Mallory was 1-for-2 with a walk. He also reached on an error and scored three runs. The fourth senior Matt Samaniego made two outstanding catches in center and dove in an attempt to catch a double by Chase Yost that almost got in his glove.

Allen also talked about his junior pitcher.

“Dalton today took the bump - He hasn't been on the mound much this year, but he's pitched in some big games,” Allen explained. “He beat Long Beach Wilson which at the time was number two in the nation.

“He changes speeds extremely well and just missed the barrel all day long. He was forcing them to hit the ball, but he wasn't going to give them any balls over the middle.”

Kuehn was impressed by Rouleau's performance as well.

“Rouleau pitched a great game,” he said. “We didn't expect him to start - we thought maybe Ryan Bower would throw - but you still have to hit whoever they throw. His change-up was really nasty for us.”

Now it's the playoffs where Lompoc will get a home game as the number one seed and Santa Ynez will start on the road as the number three seed. St. Joseph with an 11-1 victory over Santa Maria Friday, ties Santa Ynez for second, but gets the number two seed. With the Templeton loss to Morro Bay, 3-1, Cabrillo will be the fourth seed.

St. Joseph 11, Santa Maria 1

The Knights (8-4) scored eight runs in the third inning to put the game away, and, in the process, tied for second in the LPL with Santa Ynez. They will be the league's No. 2 seed.

J.P. Maestas hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the second to give St. Joseph a lead it would not surrender. In the third, Maestas had a two-run single with the bases loaded and Matt Hartin added another two-run single.

Starting pitcher Jordan Sechler went five innings allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Atascadero 12, Righetti 10

The Greyhounds rounded out a sweep of the Warriors with a 16-hit attack, overcoming a six-run deficit early to earn a PAC-7 victory.

Richard Easton had a double and a triple in the 12-hit attack for the losing Warriors (7-11, 11-15), while Tim Dwyer, Matt Miller and Chris Rivera had two hits each.

Alex Wolf had two doubles at the plate for the Greyhounds, and picked up the win in relief of starter Bryan Lemke.

Paso Robles 3, Pioneer Valley 2

The Bearcats finished off their PAC-7 schedule with an extra-inning victory over the host Panthers.

Chad De La Guerra and Reese Edwards had two hits each in the loss for Pioneer Valley (4-14, 8-18).

John Brehm picked up the win in relief for the Bearcats (14-3-1, 22-4-1).

SLO 14, Nipomo 1

The Tigers busted open for 13 runs in a three-inning stretch to close out the regular season for the Titans.

The lone run for Nipomo (4-14, 11-15) came when Ken Knudson singled in Eddie Chavarria in the fourth inning.

Dan Howell had two doubles for the Tigers (14-4, 21-5).

North Co. Christian 11, VCA 1

The host Lions could only manage an RBI single from Thomas Stoddard as their Coast Valley League and regular seasons came to an end in a game called after five innings.

Stoddard drove in Michael Calderon with an RBI single in the third inning for the Lions (4-8, 4-13).

The Crusaders' Chase Sorensen held the Lions to one run on three hits in the victory, while catcher T.J. Mitchell had two hits, and John Thompson hit a first-inning grand slam for North County.

Softball

Lompoc 4, Santa Ynez 2

Dana Campitelli's two-run single in the fifth inning broke open the Braves' LPL victory over the Pirates, clinching third place in league and a CIF playoff berth.

Campitelli went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the victory, while teammate Leanna Corral was 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

Jeana Carrillo continued her winning ways for Lompoc (7-5, 13-11) by holding Santa Ynez (1-11, 8-16-1) to one earned run on four hits, striking out three and walking none.

St. Joseph 6, Santa Maria 1

Kailey Snyder took a no-hitter into the seventh inning until Sam Serna broke it up with a single, coming as the Knights (9-3, 16-12) wrapped up second place in the LPL with a victory over the Saints.

Snyder struck out 13 and allowed only two hits, with the other coming on an RBI double by Deja Camacho to score Serna later in the seventh.

Kaitlin Voss was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Knights, while Mikayla Valencia was 2-for-4.

Morro Bay 4, Templeton 3

Kim Dauer kept the Pirates' hopes for a CIF playoff berth alive by striking out 15 Eagles batters, picking off the LPL champs on the final day of the regular season

Cori Gacad went 3-for-4 for Morro Bay (7-5, 16-10), which slots into the fourth LPL berth and will travel to open the softball playoffs. Sabrina Hammerlund added two hits and two RBIs in the victory.

Jill McClelland had two hits for Templeton (10-2, 17-4), including a solo homer in the first inning.

May 10, 2008