Santa Barbara High ace Danny Zandona made it through seven innings on 93 pitches against Ventura on Tuesday. The Cougars, on the other hand, used four hurlers and 148 pitches — and they didn’t even play the bottom of the seventh.
Santa Barbara's Cameron Gniadek slides in safely as he steals third in the first inning. (photo by Jeanise Eaton)
The Dons (17-3-1, 6-3) were patient at the plate, watching off-target pitches go by to the tune of 13 walks, four wild pitches and a hit batter. It led to a 12-2 victory, allowing Santa Barbara to leapfrog over Ventura (10-10, 4-3) to the top of the tightly packed Channel League standings.
“I thought we were very patient,” said coach Fred Warrecker. “It’s really important, like if we swung at a bad pitch somebody would say ‘Hey, c’mon, have patience and have a zone.’ They just had a real problem throwing strikes. High school guys sometimes forget about that, so I’d say our patience at the plate was absolutely key today.”
Third baseman Robert Crawford’s day at the plate pretty much summed it up. In the second inning, he drew a walk on seven pitches. He singled and scored in the fourth, walked on a full count in the fifth and walked again in the sixth, scoring two runs on the day. Jack Crummer walked twice, reached on an error, hit an RBI triple, stole a base and scored three times. Shortstop Joey Gonzales walked twice, stole a base, hit a pair of doubles, drove in three runs and scored three more.
After dismal back-to-back losses to Dos Pueblos last week, Santa Barbara has picked up an extra-inning win at Granada Hills and now a decisive victory over Ventura.
“It really helps us out, because we obviously lost against DP twice. It’s good to get back on that horse and hopefully get another winning streak going,” said Gonzales.
On top of the patience was relentless base-running by the Dons. Cameron Gniadek led off the bottom of the first by running out an infield single. He proceeded to steal second, third and home to score the first run. To get him home, the Dons implemented their “drunken sailor” trick, which they have used numerous times this season with runners at the corners. Gonzales, who was at first, got a jump to second base and induced a throw. Gniadek, meanwhile, came home.
Ventura actually anticipated the play and cutoff the throw to second, but Gniadek was speedy enough to beat the return throw home. Santa Barbara did it again in the seventh unsuccessfully.
Zandona’s rock-solid outing was a bit overshadowed by all the action in the bottom of innings. The junior allowed just six hits with two walks, and both of Ventura’s runs were unearned.
“I think Danny’s location today was his best of the season. We really emphasize certain parts of the strike zone and he was really successful with that today,” said Warrecker.
Friday’s rematch will be played at Ventura.
SANTA BARBARA 12, VENTURA 2
Ventura…002 000 0 — 2 6 1
Santa Barbara…300 432 x — 12 8 1
Nathwang, Arias (2), Torres (4), Sullivan (5) and Castro. Zandona and Eaton. WP — Zandona (7-2).
2B — V: Mendoza. SB: Gonzales (2), t’Sas. 3B — SB: Crummer.
(Dear readers: Please consider using Santa Barbara Airbus to accomodate your next trip to Dodger Stadium. The offer is perfect for team or family trips. You won’t have to pay the $15 parking fee at the stadium, and you can ride down and arrive relaxed! Please mention PresidioSports.com when you make your reservation).
