Aguayo shuts down Foresters in second straight loss

THOUSAND OAKS — Conejo Oaks starter J.C. Aguayo struck out 11 batters Thursday evening to hand the Foresters their second consecutive loss.

Aguayo (NW Oklahoma State) kept the Foresters guessing at the plate, mixing his fastball with offspeed pitches that left the normally potent Santa Barbara offense swinging at air.  He pitched seven innings, giving up two hits and one run for the 5-2 victory.

Aguayo started fast and had a no-hitter through six innings, with just one walk keeping him from being perfect.  In those six innings, only one Forester batter was able to hit the ball past the infield.

“My off-speed pitches were on,” Aguayo said.  “I was getting ahead of hitters and keeping them off balance.”

The starting pitcher helped his own cause by going 2-3 from the clean-up spot with an RBI and a run scored.

Those runs were scored at the expense of Forester starter Mitch Mormann (Wichita State), who struggled again to find his early-season form.  Mormann looked to be the ace of a talented pitching staff after his first two starts, but has had difficulty on the mound since then.

Mormann gave up a long double to Nick Boggan (Cal Lutheran) in the first inning.  The Oaks’ third baseman was brought home by Aguayo on the next at-bat.

Mormann was helped out of the second inning by a 4-6-3 double play, but was shelled in the third.  Oaks outfielder Scott Heineman (Oregon) hit a two-run homer, and Mormann gave up a walk, two more base hits and two more runs before getting out of the inning.

“He’s been leaving the ball in the middle of the plate, and he’s been struggling” Foresters’ head coach Bill Pintard said.

Spencer Messmore (CSU Bakersfield) was brought in to get the Foresters out of a jam in the fourth inning.  Brad Kottman (Rice), Kyle Freidrichs (CSU Long Beach), and Jeff McVaney (Texas State) were also used in relief and none allowed a run.

The Foresters had to get creative to get runners on base against Aguayo.   McVaney bunted in the seventh inning and forced an error by the catcher.  On the next at-bat, James Wharton broke Aguayo’s no-hitter with a RBI double.  Aguayo moved to left field after the inning.

In the eighth, Richard Stock (Nebraska) took advantage of Aguayo’s absence and hit a solo home run off reliever Jose Cardona (Cal State Fullerton).

The home run was not enough to spark a Santa Barbara rally and the game ended 5-2.

After the defeat, the Foresters (16-6 overall, 12-6 CCL) drop behind the San Luis Obispo Blues into second place in the CCL.  They will travel down to Costa Mesa for an away series with the Orange County Pioneers.

The Oaks (14-9 overall, 9-9 CCL) improve to .500 in league play, and will head to Glendale for a series against the Angelenos.

All Forester games are broadcast on AM 990 KTMS and www.sbforesters.org.

GAME NOTES: Jose Cardona is a recent graduate of El Camino Real High School and was the 2011 Los Angeles City Section Player of the Year…Coming into today’s game, J.C. Aguayo was 5-0 with a 1.08 ERA in five appearances on the mound, and batting .333 in 87 at-bats…Aguayo leads the CCL with 60 strikeouts this season, and is averaging 10 per appearance… Catcher and Forester veteran Jared Womack (Oklahoma State) officially joined the team Thursday.