Erick Elizalde went 2-for-2 with a home run, a triple and three walks to lead Santa Barbara to a 14-3 win at Dos Pueblos in Channel League action Wednesday.
With the win, the Dons remain in first place in league play at 9-1 (12-4 overall). Dos Pueblos is now 7-3 (12-6) and San Marcos 8-2 after beating Cabrillo Wednesday.
Elizalde scored after each time he came to the plate. He also pitched the final two innings in relief of Juan Perez, allowing no runs on three hits. Perez allowed six hits and three runs over five innings.
Vince Gamberdella had two hits and three RBIs for the Dons, including an RBI single to start the scoring in a four-run fifth inning. Oliver McGibben was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Dos Pueblos was led offensively by Jackson Greaney, who went 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Dylon Bailey went 2-for-2, and tripled with two outs in the second inning and scored when Greg Marmo tripled in the next at-bat to reduce Santa Barbara’s lead to 2-1 at the time.
“It’s a really good bounce back, especially after having lost to San Marcos in another rivalry game,” Schuck said. “These guys could’ve gone one of two ways, and they’re really good about blowing it off, getting rid of it, and moving on to DP.”
Ty Montgomery went 2-for-5 for the Dons with an RBI. Santa Barbara had nine hits, 13 walks, and nine stolen bases, with Sam Russell, McGibben and Dane Dawson getting two each.
“It was a really weird game for us,” Dos Pueblos coach George Hedricks said. “I thought we had a good plan against their lefty and we were working on our approach. He’s been good all year. We knew he was going to throw strikes and be crafty, and I thought we found a way to mark on him and got runners on.
“Unfortunately, defensively and on the mound, we just didn’t do enough to get a stop.”