Pitchers Kevin Gowdy of Santa Barbara High and Travis Hawkins of Ventura engaged in a scoreless Channel League duel for seven innings, and the game continued without a run until the bottom of the 10th, when Ventura scored on a single by Brock Mortenson to beat the Dons 1-0.
The loss is a blow to Santa Barbara’s chances to win the league. The Dons fall to 5-4 (13-10 overall) while Ventura is 4-3 (14-5 overall).
Mortenson drove in Thomas Matsuyama from second with a single through the middle of the infield for the game’s only run.
Pitchers dominated the game. Gowdy allowed five hits, struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter in seven innings. Hawkins pitched nine innings, allowing four hits, striking out six, walking one and hitting a batter.
Dalton Schroeder added two innings of scoreless relief for Santa Barbara and Shea Stuart pitched a scoreless 10th for Ventura and was the winner.
“You seldom see such a well-played high school game, with pitching and air-tight defense dominating,” Santa Barbara assistant Mike Cooney said. “Ventura finally broke the deadlock merely by putting the ball in play and deserved the win Gowdy and Hawkins were brilliant as starters to set the tone.”
Christian Loza had three of Santa Barbara’s hits, including a doube. Mortenson and Tavish Towner each had two singles for the Cougars.
The two teams meet again on Friday at Eddie Mathews Field.
Santa Barbara…000 000 000 0 — 0 5 2
Ventura…000 000 000 1 — 1 7 1
Gowdy, Schroeder (8), Jensen (10) and Keithley. Hawkins, Stuart (10) and Peterson. W—Stuart L—Jensen (0-1).
