PASADENA, CA — The Arroyo Seco Saints (7-5) were unable to conquer the visiting Conejo Oaks (8-5) in their return to Jackie Robinson Field on Tuesday night, losing 4-1.

After six straight away games, the Saints finally returned to Pasadena with hopes to extend their winning streak to three games.

The home Saints opted to toss Liam Thatcher (East Tennessee State) on the bump to begin Tuesday night’s action.

Things immediately got off to a rough start for Thatcher as he gave up a lead-off double to Tommy Kendlinger (Biola). Thatcher then retired the next two Oaks hitters but was unable to get out of the first inning unscathed. Devon Wilkes (Cal State Bakersfield) reached base on an infield pop fly, driving in Kendlinger.

Thatcher forced the next five of six Oaks hitters, concluding his brief two-inning outing. He posted four strikeouts and allowed three hits.

The Oaks tacked on another run in the third inning on a Jacob Galloway (Oregon State) single.

Pitching-wise, Charlie Decker (Puget Sound) got the starting nod for the Oaks and took it in stride. He coasted through his first three innings of work, tallying three strikeouts and only allowing three Saints hitters to reach base.

The lone bump in Decker’s outing came in the home half of the fourth when Cody Turner (who played at Antelope Valley College in 2025) drove in his first RBI of the summer for his new team. Tuesday was Turner’s first game with the Saints, and he impacted the game in multiple ways, but it did not come without controversy.

Following Turner’s RBI, the Oaks’ coaching staff appealed the play. Turner is a rare two-player, both pitching and hitting for the Saints. He took the mound in the top half of the third inning and continued to be the DH for his team, raising some of the Oaks’ eyebrows.

Nonetheless, Turner’s RBI counted after about 10 minutes of talking and standing around at Jackie Robinson Field, cutting the Saints’ deficit in half and bringing the score to 2-1 after four innings.

Saints Pitching Coach Aaron Treloar was very complimentary of Turner’s mental fortitude on the mound and Turner even shared his thoughts postgame regarding his first day in Pasadena.

“It is a blast out here, the guys are great and the field is nice; it’s a great experience out here,” mentioned Turner. “I like that [the team] has faith in me to go out there and produce on both sides… [Everyone] welcomed me with open arms.”

Almost immediately after the Saints cracked the scoreboard, Galloway added to the Oaks’ lead with a towering two-run blast to right-center field, extending his side’s lead to 4-1 after five.

After the fifth inning, both teams’ pitchers took over. For the Saints, Ethan Moran (Transfer Portal) retired all six Oaks hitters in order in both the sixth and seventh innings. Cade Shumard (New Mexico State) did the same but in the eighth and ninth innings.

Coach Treloar sang his staff’s praises after the loss, but particularly shouted out Moran and Shumard, saying that he thought “Moran and Shumard did a good job in the last four innings to hold [the scoreboard] at zeroes.”

Treloar also specified that Shumard has been dominant all summer.

“He has been great, especially against lefties,” commented the Saints pitching coach. “There are a lot of short right field [fences] in this league and you have to have good lefties to combat other lefties and Cade has been really good in those situations for us.”

Decker, the Oaks’ starting pitcher, lasted five innings, opening the door for the Oaks’ bullpen to finish the job. Four relievers were needed to get the final twelve outs, but they were up to the task; only four Saints reached base in the final four frames.

Reagan Gayle (Westmont College) earned the save for the Oaks, capping off their bullpen’s dominant finishing effort.

Eli Lopez (Cal State Fullerton) was not in Tuesday night’s lineup for the Saints, proving costly as his side was only able to muster one run in their 4-1 loss. His ability to get on base at will was surely missed.

Trotter Enright (Long Beach State) picked up some of the slack, reaching on two singles, but did not cross the plate once.

Coach Treloar put it simply: “If you can’t score, you can’t win.”

The Saints get another opportunity to avenge Tuesday night’s defeat at Sparky Anderson Field in Thousand Oaks as they face the Oaks again but at their place. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Contributors:

• Saints reporter Tyler Bowne (San Diego State)
• Edited by Saints reporter Taylor Dowdy (Arizona)
• Saints photographer Carina Sanchez (California State University Los Angeles)