Owls Rout Valley 19-6

Glendora, CA - The Citrus College Baseball team routed visiting Victor Valley College on Tuesday afternoon 19-6. The Owls scored in five of their eight innings, en route to the 13 run victory over WSC East rival Victor Valley College. 

 Victor Valley would briefly take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, after a solo shot by the State's leading hitter in sophomore Kyle Callahan. The Owls quickly rallied however, getting an RBI single to left by sophomore Kyosuke Ushimaru and a 2-RBI single to center off the bat of sophomore Jacob Gafford to put Citrus in front 3-1. 

In the bottom of the third, Citrus blew the game wide open with six runs. Freshman Jesse Villalobos, Ushimaru, Gafford, and freshman Donovyn Curiel all recorded RBIs in the inning Citrus added to it in the bottom of the fourth, when Ushimaru cranked his first career grand slam to make it 13-1.

Victor Valley would score a trio of runs in the top of the sixth, but would never match what the Owls did. Freshman Benjamin Aguilera would lift a two-run home-run to left-center in the bottom of the seventh and freshman Kristian Scott would launch a three-run shot to left in the bottom of the eighth after the Owls had already score a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

In the win, Citrus was paced by Ushimaru's 4-for-5 day at the dish, scoring three runs and driving in six. Villalobos would finish 3-for-3, while Gafford went 2-for-3. Sophomore Aaron Bernal improved to 7-1 on the year with his four innings of work, fanning a trio of batters. Freshman Peter Eitapence went three strong, and struck out five. 

With the win, Citrus improves to 15-12-2 overall and 7-4-1 in WSC East play. The Owls will head back up to Victorville on Thursday for a 2:30 PM showdown.