The Pirate baseball team dropped a pair of games Saturday in a doubleheader at NorCal No. 1 San Joaquin Delta Saturday. The Mustangs defeated VC 17-0 in game one before the Pirates closed the gap to 3-2 in the nightcap. Haiden Letzing and Yuki Kawashima were the only Pirates who managed hits in the first game while Letzing and Aaron McLeod each had runs batted in in the second. McLeod and Andrew Savage recorded two hits each in game two, as well.
Ventura 0, San Joaquin Delta 17
VC struggled in the first game against the pre-season No. 1-ranked team in Northern California. Kawashima produced Ventura's first hit with a one-out single in the top of the sixth inning and Letzing's single came in the seventh.
Nolan Moreau pitched 2/3 of an inning to get VC out of the fifth and Aiden Walker threw a scoreless sixth for the Pirates.
Ventura 2, San Joaquin Delta 3
The Pirates came back in the nightcap to close the gap with the Mustangs, falling 3-2 in walk-off fashion in the seven-inning game.
Gage Allen began the top of the third with a walk and Reiss Calvin was hit by a pitch one out later. McLeod delivered a two-out RBI double to score Allen before Letzing reached base on an error to score Calvin for a 2-0 VC lead.
Delta scored once in the bottom of the third, and again in the fifth to tie the game before recording a one-out sacrifice fly to walk off in the seventh.
Jared Hughes delivered a quality start, giving up two earned runs over four-plus innings of work with a pair of strikeouts. Sebastian Garcia, Livio Bundi and Ryan Dexter all made relief appearances on the mound.
Ventura will host its home opener on Wednesday Feb. 1 against Glendale. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm at Pirate Park.