Carpinteria walked away with a 4-3 Citrus Coast League win over Hueneme Thursday when Matt Muñoz drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning, forcing Joaquin Ramirez from third base.
The game was deadlocked at 0-0 until the Vikings pushed across three runs in the top of the sixth. The Warriors answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to knot the game again.
Hueneme missed chances to score in the seventh and eighth innings, with runners at third with less than two outs both times. But the Warriors held.
Junior right-hander Shane Goodmanson started for the Warriors and stymied the Viking attack for 5 innings. Junior righthander Beto Martinez tossed the seventh and eighth innings before giving way to the eventual winning pitcher Gabe Martinez.
The Carpinteria pitching staff scattered five hits and three walks, striking out five.
Erich Goebel and Gabe Martinez paced the offense with a pair of hits each. Diego Nieves had a hit and an RBI, and created some havoc on the bases in a first-and-third situation that allowed Talon Trumble to score the tying run in the sixth inning.
“The players did a great job surviving some early season mistakes,” Carpinteria coach Patrick Cooney said. “Our pitchers set the tone of confidence and gave the offense a chance to scrap for a few runs.
“We’re only three games into the season and still finding our collective identity. The energy was good top to bottom and we’ll need more of the same tomorrow.”
The Warriors, 2-1 overall and in the CCL, host the highly-touted Malibu Sharks on Friday at John Calderwood Field at 3 p.m.