Ventura High School baseball suffers two close losses to Buena High School
Mark Mosely ’24, first baseman, at bat against BHS. Moseley drew a walk in this at bat. Photo by: Christian Montecino
March 22, 2023
BHS beats the VHS baseball team 2-1 and 6-5 in back-to-back games
The BHS varsity baseball team defeated VHS 2-1 March 17, then won again 5-6 March 18. Following the two losses, the VHS baseball team’s record was pushed to 0-6 against teams in the CIF Channel League and 4-9, including tournament games.
The baseball game on March 17 was played at VHS, and the home team jumped out to an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. The score remained 1-0 with the Cougars in the lead until BHS scored two runs in the top of the third inning. The score remained 2-1 for the rest of the game, ending with a win for Buena High School.
The game was a pitching duel, with the starter for each team pitching a complete game. Wylan Nelson ‘25, starting pitcher, gave up one earned run while throwing six strikeouts. Nelson also got a hit in three at-bats and scored VHS’ only run. Ty Weeks ‘23, starting pitcher, pitched seven innings for BHS and gave up zero earned runs while throwing 10 strikeouts.
Evan Augusta ‘24, a spectator to the March 18 game, said, “I thought we would have more of a batting presence. We have a lot of good players on the team but only a few showed up.”
Starting pitcher Wylan Nelson ’25, left, about to pitch against BHS, with second baseman Jason Romero ’23, leftmost, and right fielder Finn Hoover ’23, right, ready to field the ball. Nelson pitched a complete game with six strikeouts. Photo by: Christian Montecino
The baseball game on March 18 was played at BHS, and the Bulldogs pulled out to an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. VHS cut the lead by one with a run in the top of the second. The score remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth when VHS scored a run, distancing themselves from BHS’ score. However, the Bulldogs answered with three runs of their own, pushing the score to 5-2 with BHS in the lead. Both teams scored a run in the sixth inning, propelling the game into a 6-3 lead for the Bulldogs. VHS held BHS scoreless in the top of the seventh inning, giving them a chance to close the gap in the bottom of the seventh. The Cougars scored two runs but came up just a bit short, making the final score of the game 6-5, with BHS victorious.
Relief pitcher Shane Farrel ‘24 said, “We beat ourselves. If we played just a little bit better, we definitely could’ve won.”
