THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – After a 10-inning loss the night prior, the Orange County Riptide made their road trip on Sunday worthwhile, as they defeated the Conejo Oaks 9-2 at Sparky Anderson Field.
“With the quick turn around for us, coming back out here and getting this W was huge,” said Head Coach Bryan Evans. “The boys grinded it out, played hard, and overcame adversity.”
The Oaks struck first, scoring their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the second inning, both unearned, off of starting pitcher Jake Covey (Concordia University Irvine). In six innings pitched, Covey limited Oaks hits to four.
“Covey had a hell of a start,” Coach Evans said.
The Riptide answered back in the top of the third inning with two RBI doubles, one from Jake Evans (California State University, Long Beach), and one from Luke Johnson (Cornell University), to tie the game 2-2.
With Zach Crandall (University of California, Irvine) up to bat in the top of the sixth inning, Reid Montgomery (California State University, Long Beach) was caught stealing second base, which allowed Johnson to score from third base, giving the Riptide their first lead of the game.
What started out as a tight game quickly turned into a runaway for the Riptide, with five runs coming across in the top of the seventh inning.
Bradley Navarro (University of Utah) led off the top of the seventh inning with a single, which was followed by an error that put Jake Evans on first base, and then a walk to Isaac Cadena (University of Southern California).
With the bases loaded, Carter Danz (Northwestern University) was issued a walk that forced Navarro home. Johnson then reached first base on an error, which scored Jake Evans. Next up, Montgomery delivered a two-RBI single that scored Cadena and Danz. With no outs, Crandall grounded into a double play, but Johnson came home from third base to score the last run of the inning.
The Riptide tacked on one more run when, in the top of the ninth inning, an error by the Oaks right fielder allowed Danz to reach third base safely and a sacrifice fly from Johnson brought him home.
With two more upcoming games against the Oaks, Johnson said the Riptide will need to “continue to build that momentum…and just have a good vibe in the dugout and keep getting after it.”
The Riptide will face the Oaks in a rematch at the Great Park on Tuesday, July 22 at 5 p.m.
