Danielle de Castro went 2-3 with two RBIs on Tuesday, leading SBCC to a 7-3 softball win in the first game of a WSC Gold doubleheader at Ventura. Ventura’s Alex Thorp and the Vaqueros’ Celeste Acosta both pitched three-hitters in the nightcap but the Pirates emerged with a 2-1 victory.
Christal Vierra went 2-4 with an RBI triple in the first inning of the opener for the Vaqueros (19-16, 10-5), who remained in a third-place tie with Ventura (19-18-1, 10-5) with three games to play. Hancock leads the pack at 12-3 and Cuesta is second at 11-4.
“We got seven runs on 10 hits in the first game and then 20 minutes later, against the same pitcher, we only managed three hits,” said SBCC coach Paula Congleton. “This really hurts our playoff chances. Anything can happen but we let an opportunity slip away in the second game.”
Acosta (15-15) pitched all 13 innings for the Vaqueros. SBCC broke open a 4-3 game in the opener with three runs in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Alice Cen had an RBI fielder’s choice and De Castro followed with a two-run single through the right side.
In the second game, Ventura scored both of its runs in the first inning. The Pirates took advantage of three walks, an RBI single and a passed ball to take a 2-0 lead. Amanda Caras got the Vaqueros’ run in the second when she singled and eventually scored on an errant pickoff throw to third by the catcher.
The Vaqueros will host Oxnard on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
