Saints fall to Oaks on the road

VENTURA, CA — The Arroyo Seco Saints (2-6) were unable to hold onto an early lead Sunday afternoon, falling 9-4 to the Conejo Oaks (5-2) at Ventura College.

Sunday's matchup marked the Saints' fifth loss in as many games, a streak that dropped them to sixth out of eight teams in the CCL South standings. However, outfielder Evan Reiter (Santa Ana College) said Arroyo Seco has plenty of time to turn its momentum around, stressing the importance of staying connected as a team.

"[It's] still pretty early on, and we'll come together as a team as more games come around," Reiter said in a postgame interview. "[We] just need to have better energy in the dugout; just need to put together some at-bats when we have men in scoring position and get them to score."

After coming up empty with the bases loaded in the first inning, the Saints broke through in the third, batting around and scoring four runs to take a 4-3 lead. 

A throwing error by the Oaks' catcher allowed Bryce Robinette (Undecided) and Jacob Freer (Undecided) to score on a double steal attempt, getting Arroyo Seco on the board. 

Reiter took advantage of Ventura College's massive outfield, which measures 462 feet to dead center, by hitting a game-tying triple to the wall. Dylan Immel (Undecided) promptly drove him home to give the Saints the lead.

"Once I saw that [the outfielder] missed it, I knew the ball was gonna roll all the way up to the fence," Reiter said of his triple. "I knew I had three easily, so I just kept going."

From there, however, the offense was quiet, going scoreless for the rest of the game. Arroyo Seco had a batter reach in every inning, including four innings with runners in scoring position, but couldn't convert those chances into runs.

Conejo seized the opportunity, regaining the lead in the sixth and never looking back. A four-run seventh put the Oaks up 9-4, and the Saints couldn't recover in the final innings.

Nevertheless, several Arroyo Seco hitters still put up impressive performances. Brayden Flores (Loyola Marymount) continued his hot start to the summer by reaching base four times, including a double and triple, boosting his team-high OPS to 1.161. Carson Panarisi (Cal State Los Angeles) and Freer each reached base three times as well.

The Saints will get a day off before returning to action Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Memorial Field, where they will look to get back in the win column against the Phillippines Baseball Group (0-4). First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m.

Contributors:

• Saints reporter: Bennett Christofferson (USC)

• Saints photographer: Aaliyah Alamillo (University of La Verne)