WHITTIER, California- Lance Smith
The Sheps played their 4th of 5 preseason games this afternoon against the Ventura County Bucs, defeating them 5-1. Roy Washburn got the start on the bump and took control of the game early, getting out of the first inning with just 8 pitches. After a quick top of the first, the offense got rolling early when Connor Aldrich hit a sac fly to right field to bring in Jackson LoBianco.
The Bucs were sure to reply swiftly with a run of their own in the top of the 2nd inning, but Washburn was just as fast to stymie any momentum the Bucs thought they had gained by throwing up 5 consecutive scoreless innings. Washburn’s tempo was key to keeping the Bucs off balance as he delivered his pitches as soon as a Buccaneer stepped in the batter’s box. Perhaps the biggest stat from Washburn’s performance was the efficiency with which he pitched, throwing 19 first pitch strikes in 26 at bats. Washburn threw a total of 7.0 innings with 2 strikeouts, giving up only one run on 6 hits. The bullpen came through after Washburn exited the game, with a 9 pitch 8th inning from Sam Murphy, then 3 strikeouts from Andrew White slammed the door on the Bucs.
The bats heated up as the Sheps recorded 5 runs on 8 hits, a season high. Unsurprisingly, Jake Lopez led the offense going 2 for 3 with a single, double, and a sac fly. Relief and joy were evident in the players reaction as they gathered to eat Chick-Fil-A after the game. If today told us anything, it’s that the Shepherds will have a say in who sits atop the Best of the West division in the Sunset Baseball League.
Roy Washburn (1-0) earned the win and Xavier Dubon (1-1) was tacked with the loss.
Notes
- Roy Washburn threw a first pitch strike 73.1% of at bats
- Washburn forced 10 groundouts and 5 flyouts
- Andrew White got his 9th K of the season in just 4.0 innings pitched
- The team recorded a season high 4 double plays
- Dylan Smith started his first game at catcher
- LoBianco had 3 putouts, 3 assists, and helped turn 3 of the teams 4 double plays.
- Connor Aldrich recorded 2 putouts and 5 assists at 3rd base.
- Shepherd’s batters fought off 22 pitches for foul balls.
- Emry Jackson had a team high 2 RBI’s
- Jackson LoBianco recorded a double and his 2nd stolen base on the season.
- Connor Aldrich hit a sac fly for 1 RBI
- Jake Lopez went 2 for 3 with a single, double, and a sac fly for 1 RBI
Quote from Roy Washburn
“Feels great to win, we love to win and it’s all for the glory of God. But just as far as how do you do that? It’s just deciding to win, this team wasn’t any better than any other teams we’ve played, it’s having that determination and we’ve got God on our side so there ain’t no reason we can’t.”
What’s next
The Shepherds have their last preseason game tomorrow at 6 pm against the Orange County Rip Tide out of the California Collegiate League (CCL). The game will be played at Great Park in Irvine and will be live streamed on the Shepherds Facebook page which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/socalfcabaseball/. To stay up to date on all things Shepherds baseball follow us on Instagram (@shepherds_baseball), Twitter (@SoCalShpherds), and Facebook (Southern California FCA Baseball).