Oak Park delivered the knockout blow with a 12-run fifth inning in a 20-7 rout of Carpinteria on Thursday, taking the second of two Tri-Valley League contests with the Warriors.
Nathan Saito connected for his fifth home run of the season in the fourth inning, a two-run shot that helped bring the Warriors within one run after falling behind 6-0 in the first two innings.
But Oak Park quickly put any more ideas of a Carpinteria rally to bed with the huge fifth. The Eagles sent 17 batters to the plate in the frame, using six hits, six walks, 2 HBPs and two errors to plate 12 baserunners.
The loss drops Carpinteria to 8-4 overall, 1-1 in the TVL.
“In the fifth the wheels kind of came off,” observed Warriors head coach Pat Cooney, hoping his squad has a short memory hoping to rebound in next week’s two-game set with Fillmore starting on Wednesday.
Saito had a big day in the batter’s box. The shortstop went 3-for-4, including a single, double, home run, 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
OAK PARK 20, CARPINTERIA 7
Carpinteria 001 402 0 – 7 10 5
Oak Park 240 0(12)2 X – 20 14 1
C – Geary, Madden (5), Blum (5), and D. Carrillo. OP – Hagen, A. Morelli (6), and Witaker. WP – Hagen. LP – Geary (3-2). 2B – C 3 (Saito, Geary, Madden) OP 1 (Markel) 3B – OP 1 (Langlois). HR – C 1 (Saito 4th inning, 1 on), OP 1 (Hagen 2nd inning, 1 on).
