THOUSAND OAKS, CA- It was another rough day in Thousand Oaks for the Arroyo Seco Saints (14-12), who dropped their fourth straight matchup against the Conejo Oaks (17-8), this time by a score of 9-4. 

The Saints appeared to have something cooking after Alex Birge (Cal Berkeley) singled and advanced to third on a pickoff error, and Nick Lazzara (Trinity) walked to put runners on first and third with one out. But, an inning-ending double play kept the score at 0-0 after half an inning.  

The bottom of the first was long and strenuous for starting pitcher Spencer Seid (UC San Diego), who gave up a leadoff single, and then struggled with an extremely tight strike zone from the home plate umpire, walking back-to-back batters to load the bases with nobody out. The fourth Oaks batter knocked a fly ball into center field that was caught but scored a runner to make it 1-0 Conejo.  

Seid, still struggling to find a rhythm, walked another batter to reload the bases with one out. But fortunately, he settled down and struck out back-to-back hitters, getting out of the first inning with the deficit only one for the Saints.  

Joey Craig (Portal) struck out on a ball in the dirt to open the top of the second but appeared to reach on an errant throw by the Oaks catcher trying to make the putout, which actually hit Craig in the back. But again, the Saints were victims of a controversial call in Thousand Oaks, where they’ve had tensions with umpires dating back to last season, as Craig was called out for allegedly obstructing the throw.  

It killed what could have been the start of a no-out rally as the Saints went down scoreless again.  

Seid had a better second inning, keyed by his ability to locate pitches much better early in the count. He navigated around one baserunner and pitched a scoreless inning.  

Unfortunately, the Saints couldn’t get anything going offensively, going down in their third straight scoreless inning. 

Another odd situation faced the Saints to begin the bottom of the third. A seemingly routine ground ball was hit to shortstop Sheehan O’Connor (New Mexico State), but his throw to first was dropped. However, the Oaks runner, believing the ball was caught, started heading back to the dugout and the Saints tagged him out though the runner was still called safe. No explanation was allowed to head coach Aaron Milam.  

To add insult to injury, the Oaks got two straight hits immediately afterward, a single and a two-run double, to increase their lead to 3-0 with nobody out.  

Seid navigated his way out of the inning without any further damage, helped by another web gem by human highlight reel Tyler Gordon (Portal). But, the Saints were fighting to stay in the game, frustrated in every facet; offensively, defensively, alongside the umpiring.  

Which is what made the big hit in the top of the fourth that much sweeter. After a double by Nick Lazzara, cleanup hitter Joey Donnelly (Cal Berkeley) stepped up and pulled a no-doubt home run into the trees beyond the right-field fence. Donnelly’s pre-pitch approach was key to his big hit. 

“I got to 2-0, so I was kind of in a hitter’s count,” Donnelly said. “I just really wanted to capitalize on whatever he was gonna give me and see what I could do with it. Happened to catch one out front.”  

The two-run homer pulled the Saints within one run and more importantly, reignited the dugout.  

Donnelly’s teammates had a lot of fun celebrating the home run when he got back to the dugout. 

“I got back, and no reaction from anybody in the dugout,” Donnelly said. “Then, after a couple seconds, they came over and picked me up, which was funny.”  

The game stood at 3-2 at the end of the top of the fourth.  

But the Oaks continued the timely offense the Saints have been victim to all season long, crushing a nearly identical two-run homer to right of their own to make the lead three runs again, 5-2.  

The Saints loaded the bases in the top of the fifth. Jakob Schardt (Fullerton) walked, Birge doubled, and Lazzara was hit by a pitch, all with two out. But, they were all stranded there and the score stood at 5-2.  

To make matters worse, the Oaks added on in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 6-2. 

The Saints’ offense was again quiet in the top of the sixth, managing only one baserunner and not getting that elusive hit with runners in scoring position.  

But the Oaks did it again, twice. Two more runs came across in the bottom of the sixth to make it 8-2, and the game was starting to feel out of hand.  

But the Berkeley boys wouldn’t let that happen just yet. Birge and Donnelly both had RBI singles in the top of the seventh to lessen the gap to a much more manageable 8-4.  

But the Oaks just kept hitting, getting one of those runs right back in the bottom of the seventh. Donnelly remarked postgame that the Oaks have just seemed to get the offense in bunches when they’ve faced the Saints this season. 

“They’re just stacking hits,” Donnelly said. “They’re getting the big hits when it matters, they’re stacking good at-bats. And they’re capitalizing on the baserunners they’re getting.  

A good throw by Alex Birge to cut down a runner trying to advance fortunately ended the threat, but with six outs left and still down by 5, things were looking grim for the Saints.  

Neither team got any runs across in the eighth, and it was still 9-4 heading into the ninth.  

And unfortunately, this would not be a game with a late rally for the Saints. They went down in order, losing to the Oaks for the fourth time this season, and the third time in which the Oaks have put up at least nine runs.  

The Saints will look to rebound tomorrow and make it 3-3 in this six games in six days stretch tomorrow night against the MLB Academy Barons at Jackie Robinson Field, at 6:05 PM as always. The Saints will fortunately be able to turn to one of their best pitchers, right-hander Danny Veloz (Hawaii), who is in line to start tomorrow.  

Donnelly thinks the Saints can rebound against the Barons if they play to the strengths they’ve shown they have.  

“We’re doing some stuff right, just not everything,” Donnelly said. “I think we gotta capitalize on the stuff we are doing and just put it all together tomorrow. The pitching, the hitting, the defense, just put it all together.  

The Saints have been playing a more complete all-around game the past week or so, but so is every other CCL team as they all get into a groove, and the Saints will need to press into their strengths in all those areas down the home stretch. 

Contributors:  

• Saints reporter Ethan Inman (Southern California) 
• Saints reporter Noah Pineda (UT Austin)

• Saints photographer Armando Jacobo (Long Beach)