The Pirate softball team split a pair of contests on the first day of the VC Spring Games Saturday at the VC Softball Complex. The Ventura Pirates defeated the Porterville Pirates in the opener 5-0 before falling to Mt. San Jacinto 7-4 in the second. Justine De La Rosa had four hits on the day with a triple and Arianna Rivas had three, including a double.
Ventura 5, Porterville 0
In a match-up of Pirates versus Pirates, Ventura came out on top with the shutout victory. Ventura, who was the "visiting" team on the basis of a coin flip (as is customary in softball tournament play), scored one run in the top of the fourth and finished with two runs in the top of each the sixth and seventh innings.
Anissa Padilla scattered seven hits from the pitcher's circle in going the distance for VC. Rivas was 3-4 at the plate with a double and two runs scored while De La Rosa had two hits and scored once. Breana Betancourt had a two-RBI double in the game and Brittany Perez also doubled for two runs batted in.
Ventura 4, Mt. San Jacinto 7
The Pirates fell in their second game 7-4 in five innings. The score was tied 1-1 after the first inning, and the Eagles scored three runs in the top of the third. MSJC scored two more in the fourth and another run in the fifth before Ventura managed three runs in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap.
De La Rosa was 2-3 with a triple and Julianna Andrade was 2-3 with a double and an RBI.
Ventura (15-7, 7-3) concludes the Spring Games with match-ups against Hartnell at 9:00 am and Long Beach at 4:30 pm.