Ventura, Calif. – A 44 pitch second inning from the Orange County Riptide, in which they gave up three runs, resulted in a 7-4 loss to the defending California Collegiate League Champions, Conejo Oaks.
After taking an early 1-0 lead, the Oaks tacked on three more runs in the second inning. Grant Rodriguez hammered an RBI ground rule double down the right field line, followed by a Brandon Contreras two-RBI single.
The Riptide wasted no time getting on the board. In the top of the third, third baseman Connor Barth drove in the first run for the Riptide, bringing center fielder Alex Dolan home.
The pitching staff for OCR couldn’t hold off Conejo. The three-time CCL champions collected two consecutive knocks to extend their lead to 6-1 , highlighted by a double from Matthew Witkow and a single from Zach Mora.
The next two Riptide runs came from the bats of the team’s hottest hitters. Dolan and left fielder Reid Montgomery, who both had RBI knocks to left, brought the deficit within four.
Dolan, who went 3-for-5, kept his approach as simple as possible.
“The whole day, I’ve just been thinking about my swing, and what I can do right, and I tried not to think too much,” Dolan said. “I tried to keep my swing short, get on top of it, and that was like my whole game plan.”
Shortstop Slater Nunez helped the Riptide cut the margin to three, which would be the final run for Orange County.
“We’re not pressing the panic button today at all,” Evans said. “I know these guys can hit, and we proved that today. We just didn’t get the timely hit, and we gave up too many freebies early on.
The Riptide loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Zach Woodson grounded out to the pitcher for a game-ending 1-2-3 double play.
OCR, now 2-1, will return home for a matchup with the San Diego Waves at the Great Park on Sunday evening.
“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Evans said. “We got another day tomorrow, so we’re gonna learn from today, learn from our mistakes today, and go at it with all the confidence in the world.”
First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
