The Pirate baseball team had a rough start, but stayed in the game against Cuesta Saturday, falling 6-4 at Pirate Park. Caden Stillwell recovered from a rough opening frame, limiting the Cougars to two hits and one run over the next six frames on the mound, and led with his bat, going 4-5 including a home run and a double, with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Grant Rodriguez was 2-4 at the plate with two RBI and one run scored for VC (16-20, 11-10).
Ventura gave up five runs on five hits in the top of the first inning. After that, however, the Pirates buckled down, giving up one run and two hits over the final eight frames.
Down 6-0, VC scored twice in the bottom of the fourth. With one out Stillwell doubled and came home on Rodriguez's home run on the next at-bat.
Stillwell continued his solid day with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning to narrow the gap to 6-3.
The Pirates continued to fight, putting together a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth. Tommy Castaneda and Matthew Ramirez hit back-to-back singles. Stillwell followed with another single to knock home Castaneda and Rodriguez walked to load the bases, still with two outs. VC could not get the clutch hit with the game-tying runs in scoring position, however, and fell 6-4.
Ventura next travels to Oxnard on Saturday April 19. The Pirates begin the final week of the regular season on Tuesday April 22 at home against Santa Barbara, their final appearance at Pirate Park in 2025.