The Pirate baseball team was nearly dead in the water Tuesday afternoon. They trailed Rio Hondo 9-2 entering the bottom of th eighth inning before sending 14 batters to the plate and scoring nine runs to post an 11-9 victory over the Roadrunners at Pirate Park. Grant Rodriguez delivered a two-RBI single to tie the game and Daniel Aguilera knocked in the game-winner. Austin Kurr retired the final four batters with a pair of K's to pick up the win.
Rio Hondo took control of the game with four runs in the top of the second and two more scores in the fourth inning.
The Pirates got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Tommy Castaneda led off with a triple and, one out later, Rodriguez doubled him home. Rodriguez moved to third on a wild pitch before Caden Stillwell hit an RBI single.
Trailing 6-2, VC gave up another three runs in the top of the eighth inning for a 9-2 deficit.
After wholesale substitutions by Rio Hondo, Matthew Ramirez innocently led off the inning with a single. Rodriguez also singled and Stillwell also had a bas hit to score Ramirez. Aguilera followed with an RBI double to score Rodriguez and VC trailed 9-4 with runners in scoring position. Riley Dalto was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Max Weitz drew a walk after a pitching change to force in a run. After the first out of the inning, Henry Borjas knocked in a pair of runs with a single before Castaneda drew a base on balls to reload the diamond. After the second out, Rodriguez tied the game with a two-RBI single and Stillwell followed with another walk. Aguilera then knocked in the eventual game-winning run, and some insurance, giving Ventura the 11-9 margin heading to the ninth.
Kurr struck out two batters in the ninth inning to close the door on the Roadrunners to preserve the victory.
Rodriguez was 3-5 on the day with three RBI and three runs scored while Aguilera also had three hits while knocking in three scores. Stillwell was 4-5 with two RBI and Hunter Cervantes also had a pair of hits.
The Pirates close the two-game set with Rio Hondo on Thursday April 3 in Whittier.