Nolan Soto stymied Ventura over seven innings on Friday and recorded a three-hit shutout for Dos Pueblos in a 1-0 Channel League decision.
Dos Pueblos' Nolan Soto
Soto struck out four batters and walked one in an extremely efficient performance in which he faced only 24 batters. After the first inning, Soto allowed just two baserunners.
“It was the best single-performance from one of our pitchers this season,” credited Chargers head coach Nate Mendoza.
The victory improved the Chargers to 7-2 on the season and 1-0 in league play.
“Even though it’s the first game in league it’s a big win,” Mendoza said.
DP’s bats didn’t get Soto a lead until the bottom of the sixth inning. Daniel Vickers led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. A sacrifice bunt from Dylan Rohde moved Vickers to third and another double from Anthony Spiritosanto scored Vickers. The run snapped a 12+ inning streak in which Dos Pueblos had failed to plate a run.
The Chargers collected seven hits in total, with Joe Huthsing pounding out two hits. Vickers was 1-for-2 and a walk, as was Soto.
Next week Dos Pueblos matches up with Santa Barbara and Buena in a pair of high-stakes Channel League games.
Ventura falls to 0-2 in league and 4-4 overall.
DOS PUEBLOS 1, VENTURA 0
00000000 – 0 3 0
000 000 1 0 – 1 7 0
V – Navarro, Davidson(6), ande Morton. DP – Soto, and Huthsing. 2b – Vickers, Spiritosanto
