SBCC left-hander Chris Joyce has been named All-American and Southern Cal Pitcher of the Year. DJ Gunderson, a top reliever for the WSC North champion Vaqueros, made the All-Southern California baseball team.
Santa Barbara’s Kailey Snyder was the Southern Cal softball Pitcher of the Year, giving the Vaqueros a rare pitching double.
Joyce, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, went 6-0 in the regular season with a 1.54 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 70 innings. He finished the year 7-1 with a 2.04 ERA and 114 strikeouts.
On March 10, Joyce fanned 16 Moorpark batters in eight innings. He pitched a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts on April 14 in a 5-0 shutout of Cuesta that put the Vaqueros in first place to stay.
Santa Barbara’s pitching staff had the sixth-best ERA in the state (2.93) and topped all California schools with 312 strikeouts.
SBCC went 24-17 and won the WSC North crown with a 15-5 mark. The Vaqueros beat Riverside in the Southern Cal Regional series 2-1 and advanced to the Super Regional for the first time in school history.
Gunderson, a sophomore from Capistrano Valley, used his submarine delivery to post a 5-4 record with four saves in 20 appearances. He had a 2.08 ERA in the regular season with 22 strikeouts in 26 innings.
After SBCC lost the Regional series opener, Joyce and Gunderson combined on a seven-hitter in a 9-3 home victory on May 7. Gunderson pitched three innings for the save and then came back the same day and tossed one-run ball for eight innings in the decisive 9-1 series-clinching victory.
