Ranger hitting squads surf past Malibu Sharks
By Jesse Phelps

The Nordhoff varsity baseball team got a big win at home on Tuesday, defeating first-place Malibu, 5-1, behind the dominant pitching of sophomore Jacob Orozco.
Orozco notched seven strikeouts in seven innings of a complete game victory and was backed up by an offense that exploded for four runs in the fifth inning to take control of the game against Malibu hurler Jaime Ballesteros.

Ian LeClere got it started with a one-out triple and his teammates took it from there. Ryan Fragale singled him in and the big inning was on. Greg Cresto singled. Ronnie Bush intentially walked and Ronnie Laber reached on a fielder's choice. Pinch hitter Chad Berube's base hit provided the clutch RBIs. Ballesteros, perhaps the Frontier League's most dominant pitcher, gave up nine hits to the Rangers (4-4), now alone in third place. With the loss, Malibu (6-2 in league) dropped into a first place tie with Oaks Christian.

The Rangers play the Sharks again today at 3:30 p.m.
In its own matchup at Malibu, the Ranger softball squad scored two in the third and another in the seventh, then held on to win, 3-2.
Once again, Christina Stoltz powered the Ranger offense, going two-for-four with two runs driven in. Shanice Garcia also had a big game at the plate, notching two hits in four at bats. Rachelle Madrid (3-2) got the win for Nordhoff, which once again handed Malibu's Lisa Marie Kohrs the loss.

The win put the Rangers above the .500 mark, at 9-8-1, 4-4 in league. Malibu dropped to 2-6 in league.
In the preceding game, the Rangers were shut out at the hands of league-leading Oaks Christian, 5-0.

"It's tough to beat two Division 1 prospects, both equally great pitchers," said Nordhoff coach Tom Husted, of the Oaks Christian duo Ashley Freeman and Sara Radabaugh.
© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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