Teresa Lemos held SBCC to two hits in the first five innings on Thursday and Ventura went on to beat the Vaqueros 4-1 in a softball battle for first place at Pershing Park.
Lemos, a sophomore left-hander, tossed a five-hitter and drove in the Pirates first two runs with a bases-loaded single in the third. Ventura (14-3, 4-0 WSC Gold) stretched the lead to 4-0 in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Julie Cortez.
Natalie Orosco had two hits, including a double, for the Vaqueros (11-9, 3-1). SBCC scored in the sixth when Roxanne Hugo lofted a pinch-hit double to right-center, went to third on an illegal pitch and came home on a sacrifice fly by Bryn Thompson.
“We saw Lemos at the San Diego City Tournament and jumped on her right away,” said coach Paula Congleton. “Today, we let too many good strikes go by and got behind. When she had a little more movement on the ball or threw a pitch that wasn’t great, we were going after those pitches.
“We hit the ball hard to the outfield but anytime you put the ball in the air against a good team, it’s going to be an out.”
Alyse Harris, the Vaqueros’ starter, and Celeste Acosta didn’t have great days on the mound as each walked three batters. Acosta, who pitched to eight hitters in the fifth and sixth, gave up one run on two hits before Harris returned to the circle following a leadoff double in the sixth.
“The race for No. 1 (in conference) is between us and Ventura,” Congleton stated. “Now our backs are against the wall. We have to take two down at their place to sweep the series.
The Vaqueros travel to Oxnard for a doubleheader on Tuesday.
LINE SCORE
Ventura ……. 003 010 0 — 4 7 0
SBCC .……… 000 001 0 — 1 5 3
Lemos and Cortez; Harris, Acosta (5), Harris (6) and Larabell. W–Lemos 11-2. L–Harris 6-7.
2B–V: Garcia, Dickson. SB: Orosco, Hugo.
