Sequoias downs Vaqueros 4-2 in opener of 3-game series

Jacob Labogin and Alex Garcia combined on a 7-hitter Thursday afternoon as College of the Sequoias slipped past SBCC 4-2 in a nonconference baseball game at Pershing Park.

The Giants, ranked No. 14 in the Northern Cal preseason poll, evened their record at 2-2 while the Vaqueros, ranked No. 4 in the South, fell to 0-5.

Labogin, a sophomore left-hander, went the first 5 1/3 innings, giving up two unearned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Garcia entered with two on and one out in the fifth and got out of the jam on a foul-out and and liner back to the box. Garcia held the Vaqueros to one hit over the last 3 2/3 innings and picked up his first save.

Connor Clark went 2-4 for the Vaqueros and drove in their first run with a groundout in the first inning. Designated hitter Chris Smutny was 2-3. SBCC struck out 10 times while three Vaquero hurlers combined to strike out just one.

"We were a lot better today than we've been in the past," said Clark, a 6-5 left-handed hitter from Camarillo High. "We just need to keep buying in, keep improving and trusting the process and we'll get better.

"We've been pressing a little. We need to have more of a nine-guy-on-one mentality and put up more runs."

Designated hitter Tyler Morgan went 2-4 with three RBIs for the Giants, including a sacrifice fly that made it 2-1 in the third and a single up the middle that scored Jacob Trimble with the game-winning run for a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

The Vaqueros tied it 2-2 in the fourth on an infield single by Clark, a throwing error and an RBI single by shortstop Alex Heim.

"It was a well-played game on both ends," said SBCC coach Jeff Walker. "The defense let us down a little in the early going. Offensively, we had another 10 strikeouts. I think we're pressing and trying to do too much, the same as our pitchers.

"Good things happen when you put the ball in play. We just need to get some timely hitting."

Ian Clark pitched seven innings for the Vaqueros, giving up four runs on nine hits. Brett Gregory and Joseph Osegueda tossed one inning apiece, allowing no runs on one hit.

The Vaqueros have faced Cabrillo (No. 12 in the North), Saddleback (No. 7 in the South) and Sequoias (No. 14 in the North) and their combined record is 12-3. Walker noted that all three teams have been to the State Final Four. The Vaqueros tied for fifth in the State playoffs the last two years and went 60-26 during that span.

The same teams will square off on Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. with both games at Pershing Park.