The VC baseball team came back from an 11-4 deficit after four innings, scoring eight unanswered runs, including four in the bottom of the eighth, to claim a 12-11 victory Wednesday in their home opener at Pirate Park. Connor Hickey was 3-5 at the plate with two runs scored and three runs batted in while Reiss Calvin also had three hits with a pair of runs scored and an RBI. Andrew Savage homered and scored twice and Haiden Letzing and Braeden MacCormic each recorded two hits.
Ventura fell behind early, giving up three runs in the top of the first and another pair on the top of the second.
The Pirates got untracked in the bottom half of the frame, however, scoring four runs on four hits, a walk and a HBP. Carson Friesen hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to score Letzing, who led off the inning with a single, and MacCormic hit an RBI single to score Aaron McLeod. Calvin singled to score Savage before Hickey singled to score MacCormic.
The Vaqueros answered with a run in the top of the third, then put up a 5-spot in the fourth for their 11-4 advantage.
Savage got the comeback rolling with a two-out solo home run in the fifth, and VC scored three more in the bottom of the sixth. Hickey, Mason Reid and Letzing all had RBI singles in the inning to pull Ventura to within 11-8.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates rallied to take the lead. Gage Allen reached base on an error to lead off and Calvin followed with a single. Hickey then came up, hitting an RBI single to score Allen, then Reid doubled to score Calvin. Letzing grounded out to short, scoring Hickey to tie the game, and one out later, Yuki Kawashima, who pinch ran for Reid, scored on a wild pitch for the go-ahead run.
Pitcher Harrison Cordeiro, who came on with two outs in the eighth, recorded the first two outs of the ninth to pick up the win before Livio Bundi came on to record the final out for the save.
Ventura (1-3) next travels to Citrus College on Thursday Feb. 2 for a 12:00 pm game against the Owls.