Vansant tosses six solid innings in 10-8 victory

Brett Vansant threw six strong innings on Thursday and SBCC survived a seven-run uprising in the eighth to beat L.A. Pierce 10-8 in the opener of a three-game baseball series at Pershing Park.

SBCC (4-3) built an early 10-1 advantage with three in the first and seven in the third. The Vaqueros had eight hits in the third frame and nine of the first 10 batters reached base. Nicholas Triffiletti had a two-run double to right-center and Phil Quartararo drove in the 10th run with a single through the left side.

Trifiletti, a freshman outfielder from Linewood, N.J., went 2-5 with three RBIs. Quartararo, Reinhard Lautz, Shane Hersh and Boston Hubbard all had two hits on a day the Vaqueros rapped out 13 hits against five pitchers. Lautz stole two bases amnd scored twice.

Vansant, a 6-foot-9 right-hander from Redlands, held the Brahmas to one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked just one. He retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth, striking out five of six batters.

Brahma starter Alexis Miranda gave up 10 runs on 10 hits in just 2 1/3 innings.

Pierce sent 12 batters to the plate in the eighth and nine reached base. They scored seven runs on four hits, a walk, two hit batters and two errors. It was an exact replica of the season opener when the Vaqueros led Napa 10-1 and The Storm scored seven in the eighth before the Vaqueros prevailed, 10-8.

Third baseman/pitcher Jake Holton closed out Thursday's win by striking out the side in the ninth, getting the last two looking for his second save.

"I know Coach Walker has faith in me, so I went out there ready to throw strikes," said Holton, a sophomore from Los Gatos. "I was hoping for some ground-ball outs but luckily my stuff was on today.

"We were really focusing on quality at-bats today. We had eight or nine in a row in the first two innings."

The Vaqueros are 3-0 at home this year and 18-5 the last two years.

"Unfortunately this is the second time we've given up seven runs in the eighth after leading 10-1," said coach Jeff Walker. "That's a bugaboo. The good news is Brett Vansant pitched great and we won.

"We had great offense early, then put it on cruise control late. Mikey J (Michael Jacobson) strikes out the first guy and then our new catcher allows him to reach on a passed ball. We had a new second baseman and there were two balls that should have been outs. We did a good job of staying on our side and bouncing back at home."

The Vaqueros will send left-hander Ian Churchill (1.86 ERA, 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings) to the mound for Tuesday's 2 p.m. game at L.A. Pierce, then host the Brahmas on Saturday at 1 p.m.