Owls Swoop Up Barstow Series

Citrus Baseball closed out its WSC East conference season series in style on Saturday with a 6-4 win, taking the series 3-1. The Owls and Vikings faced off in two other games this week as well. The first game on Tuesday at Citrus went the Owls' way, as they topped the visitors 11-1. But Barstow grabbed onto home field advantage and thumped the Owls 24-5 on Thursday in Barstow. 

In Tuesday's game at home, Citrus was firing on all cylinders as they put on an offensive clinic for the Vikings. The Owls hit .387 as a team and drove in 10 of their 11 runs. 

Enrique Zalidivar picked up the win from the mound, facing 27 batters and allowing just 1 run. Zalidivar improves to 5-3 in 2019. 

The Owls got solid offensive production from several players. Teppei Fukuda posted a pair of doubles on the day, driving in 3 runs; the Owls' offensive leader Kanta Kobayashi cracked a double and 2 singles, driving in 2 runs and scoring twice; Ethan Cummins and Gerardo Zurita each recorded a base hit, 2 runs and an RBI. Cummins also posted a stolen base. 

Thursday, the Owls headed to Barstow and drove home with a couple of broken wings. The Owls fell to the Vikings 24-5. Kanta Kobayashi, Roberto Moreno and Go Hattori all notched doubles, and Cummins, Hattori and Alejandro Loera all drove in runs. Pitcher Samuel Gomez struck out 6 batters, facing 18 in total. 

Saturday would be the decider in the season series, and the Owls battled to snag the game, 6-4. Samuel Gomez picked up his 2nd win of the season, facing 21 batters and striking out 9, tying his season high. 

Kanta Kobayashi wore out his bat in the game, going 4 for 5 with 2 RBI's, 2 runs, and a stolen bag. Kobayashi is currently ranked #7 in the state in stolen bases. Cummins and Fukuda both posted base hits and 2 RBI's. 

Citrus improves to 13-15-1 with a 9-5 conference mark, putting them squarely in the #2 spot in the WSC East behind Glendale. The Owls take the field again next week as they go head to head with Glendale in a 3 game stint that will round out the 4 game season series for the two teams. Glendale beat the Owls in their first matchup 5-1, in Glendale. 

Next week's games are scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30 in Glendale, Thursday at 2:30 at Citrus, and then Friday at 2:30 in Glendale. 

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