Lompoc pitcher Cody Berryman gave up one run and one hit in the first inning and one run and one hit in the last inning. In between he was unhittable and his teammates were unstoppable.

Lompoc defeated St. Joseph 10-2 in a Los Padres League game at Dan Bodary Field on Tuesday afternoon moving into a tie for first place in the tight LPL race.

“Berryman was really good today,” St. Joseph coach John Osborne said. “He threw all of his pitches for strikes, was ahead of most of the hitters.”

It was a different Cody Berryman than last week.

“Cody came out and pitched outstanding,” Lompoc coach Jim Allen said. “We didn't need to score a lot of runs today.

“He's got a lot of run on the ball and when his ball is moving like that, it's tough to hit and for him today the key was his ability to throw his curve for a strike - once he does that it opens up his fastball.”

St. Joseph had two batters reach base on errors in the fifth with one out, but Berryman struck out the next two batters to end the inning. In the sixth, he walked the first two hitters, but got a grounder for a 3-6-1 double play and finished the inning with another strikeout to keep the Knights off the board.

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“We made two errors in that inning and Cody didn't panic at all,” Allen said. “Then he rolled up a double-play ball and got himself right out of it.”

Berryman was able to keep it simple.

“Today I just relaxed and was able to do what I do - just pitch the ball in there for strikes,” Berryman explained. “First-pitch strikes will always help me through the count.”

Of the 27 batters Berryman faced, 18 had first-pitch strikes. Five of his six strikeouts came after first-pitch strikes, while all three of his walks came after a first-pitch ball. Interestingly, both hits came after first pitch strikes, a home run by Matt Hartin in the first and a double by Jacob Cano with a two-strike count in the seventh.

The Braves (6-2 LPL) made use of every one of their seven hits, scoring in each of the four innings they had a hit. They scored nine runs in the last three innings to pull away from the Knights (6-2 LPL), handing them their second league loss in a row.

The pivotal inning came in the fourth when Lompoc scored two unearned runs. Chris Mallory opened with a single and stole second. He moved to third on a passed ball, then Dalton Rouleau walked - setting up runners at first and third.

St. Joseph starting pitcher Jordan Sechler tried to pick Rouleau off at first and threw the ball away, allowing Rouleau to move to second and Mallory to score. After a strikeout, Berryman hit a hard liner to the second baseman. If he had caught the ball cleanly, the Knights would have doubled Rouleau off at second, but he bobbled the ball and had to throw to first for the out.

On the throw to first, Rouleau sprinted to third base and the first baseman tried to throw him out. But he threw the ball away, allowing the runner to score. The Braves had a 3-1 lead.

“I said all along you are not going to play errorless ball every game but there are going to be some games where you need to,” Osborne said. “In the last couple we have not done that. Our guys need to realize that they need to play better.

“We drop that line drive at second that would have been a double play, then he throws to first - then our guys throws it away at third and their guy comes in.”

Osborne was frustrated with the lack of execution on basic plays.

“You have to play simple catch,” he continued. “We're not asking our infielders to make spectacular plays or our outfielders to make diving catches all over the place, but you have to make the routine plays.”

But he also complimented Lompoc on its win.

“They played well defensively and when they do that they are a good competing team,” he said. “They put the bat on the ball and they deserved to win

Lompoc scored three runs in the fifth on a lead-off triple by Brandon Alonzo, an RBI single by Kevin Erickson, two walks, a sacrifice fly by Scott Aguailar and a force out. In the sixth, the Braves put the game away off of reliever Eric George. Mallory struck twice, first with a double and then a three-run home run that bounced off the top bar of the chainlink fence in right.

Cano scored the last run of the game for St. Joseph in the top of the seventh.

Now the Braves are back in first after winning the league title the last two years.

“The last two years battling for a league championship we realized that every game can make the difference,” Allen said. “We put ourselves in a good situation. We just need to keep winning.

“We played a lot better today then we have lately. Sometimes you just need to get your back against the wall a little bit and come out fighting. We came out with a sense of urgency today - finally.”

Berryman feels confident the Braves have turned the corner and will finish the season on a roll.

“We are coming out and showing everybody now that we are Lompoc and we play baseball. It's what we do,” he said.

After losing the last two league games, Osborne is not panicking.

“We will be fine,” Osborne claimed. “Our guys will compete.”

Cabrillo 7, Santa Maria 4

Aaron Naputi pitched a complete game at Cabrillo as he helped the Conquistadores (10-11 overall) move to 5-3 in the Los Padres League.

The Conqs and Santa Ynez are tied for second place, a game back of St. Joseph and Lompoc.

Naputi went 3-for-4. Trevor Sullivan drove in two runs for Cabrillo. Kevin Harmon drove in another. Robert Rodriguez was 2-for-3 for the Saints (0-8, 2-18).

Softball

Lompoc 1, St. Joseph 0 (11 inn)

Courtney Dosa hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the 11th to hand Lompoc pitcher Jeana Carrillo her fifth straight shutout victory.

The Braves' pitcher has thrown 39 straight scoreless innings, which was definitely in jeopardy in the seventh after the Knights loaded the bases with no outs.

Three groundouts, which included two force outs at home, helped Carrillo out of the inning.

She had no walks and three strikeouts in the game.

Lompoc (5-3 LPL) committed seven errors in the game, but Carrillo was able to keep the Knights off the board.

Lompoc next plays a non-league game on Friday against Coast Union, before resuming LPL play hosting Morro Bay on Tuesday. St. Joseph travels to Santa Ynez Friday.

Cabrillo 2, Santa Maria 0

Kiley Shae Aldridge shut the Saints out on two hits at Cabrillo.

Adriana Seguar singled and Kelcie Jo Pecyna had an RBI groundout for the Conquistadores' runs off the Saitns' Alyssa Guitterez, who allowed just two hits herself.

Cabrillo is now 5-3 in the Los Padres League, 12-8 overall. Santa Maria is 1-7 in the LPL.

Tennis

Templeton 9, Cabrillo 9 (THS, 73-72)

The Conquistadores suffered what Dan Troup called “A really tough loss,” by one game at Templeton.

Cabrillo (3-8, 3-11) missed a chance to tie the Eagles (5-6 in league matches) for fourth place in the Los Padres League. Four league teams go to the playoffs. Each squad has one league match left.

Cabrillo's doubles tandems of Andrew Shewell and Ryan Anderson, Jordan Daniels and Arjun Ayyar, and Casey Owen and David Terrones did their best to lift the Conqs to victory. They combined for eight points, with Shewell and Anderson and Owen and Terrones sweeping three sets each.

Lompoc 10, Morro Bay 8

Alex Jensen swept three sets as the Braves (8-2, 10-4) got past the Pirates at Morro Bay and solidified their hold on third place in the LPL. Kyle Thumm and Marco Pasallo took three doubles sets for the Braves.

April 22, 2008