Citrus Wins Long Ball Battle

In a battle of the long ball, Citrus College came out on top with a commanding 20-10 victory over Ventura College Thursday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 1-2 on the young year, while the Pirates slip to 1-4 overall.

Each team had three home runs, with Chad Green (2-for-3) blasting two homers for the Owls.

Ventura scored first in the top of the first, but Citrus responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame off a Connor Green RBI single.

Roman Robles started the home run derby with a solo shot to center field to tie things up, 2-2, before Chad Green knocked his first homer of the day with two runners on board in the bottom of the third to give the Owls a 5-3 lead. Ventura took back the upper hand in the fifth with three home runs of its own, but Citrus wasn't done yet.

With a runner on base, Chad Green drilled his second home run of the day in the bottom half of the inning to even things up once again. It sparked a big inning for the Owls as they scored eight runs on five hits and three errors to jump in front 13-7.

It seemed to have opened the floodgates as Citrus kept its bats hot and plated five more runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to hold a staggering 20-7 lead.

The Pirates managed to get three runs back in the eighth, but the game was called after Citrus grabbed the third out to seal the victory.

Tony Verrone picked up the win for the Owls, while George Gonzalez grabbed a save.

Citrus takes on Ventura again on Saturday, this time on the Pirates' turf at 1 p.m.