From April 3 to April 5, 2018, Ventura High School’s baseball team participated in the Elite 8 tournament held by Saint Francis High School in San Jose, California.

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Ventura started game one against St. Francis, who was hosting the tournament and seeded number one.  The Cougars held a lead of 1-0 with sophomore Aiden Garza at starting pitcher, until the fifth inning when the Lancers started to rally.  In the fifth and sixth inning the Lancers put up eight runs and went on to win the game 8-1.

Game two was another loss for the Cougars, playing against St. Mary’s High School from Inglewood, California with the end result being 13-0.

Senior Blake Corsentino started on the mound, which was his first time returning from injury. Corsentino suffered from a fractured elbow before the season, and when asked how it felt to be back pitching, he stated, “I felt like I got my swagger back. I just tried to throw strikes and trust the defense to make the plays behind me.”

Going into game three against Palma High School from Salinas, California, the Cougars had their last shot at winning a game during the tournament.  This game was the closest scoring for the Cougars during the tournament, however Palma still came out on top, winning the game 3-1. Senior Manny Jaquez started for the Cougars and threw five innings,  giving up the three runs Palma scored during the game.