Santa Maria Valley Suns win first tournament
Apr. 30—The Santa Maria Valley Suns, a club basketball team started by local coaches Randy Stanford and Erik Ramos, won their first tournament last weekend.
The Suns' fifth and sixth grade team won the West Coast Tournament in Pismo Beach. They beat Team X 23-7 and then the Huskies 22-11 on Saturday. The Suns then beat the Sparks 11-7 in the semifinals and 805 Force 25-11 in the championship game on Sunday.
The team members are Deztinee Herrera, Paula Camacho, Khloe Hernandez, Moriah Kerley, Gracie Payne and Ella Edwards
Ramos is the varsity girls coach at Santa Maria High and Stanford coaches the girls program at Valley Christian Academy.
College baseball
Bulldogs fall to Ventura
The Hancock College baseball team fell short in a road test against Ventura College on Thursday, falling 11-9 in the penultimate game of the season.
The Bulldogs (20-19, 10-13 WSC) jumped out early by posting four runs in the opening frame after Kalub Ramirez and Joey Freitas each drove in runs with singles and Brayan Nuñez plated two after a sacrifice fly.
Jake Steels tacked on one more run in the second with an RBI single, but the Pirates (21-17, 14-8 WSC) responded by putting up 11 runs through the next six innings.
Hancock began to chip away at the deficit when Nuñez went yard with a two-run shot in the eighth. Ruley followed suit in the final frame with a homer of his one while Caelan Dalman added an RBI with a bases-loaded walk, but the Bulldogs were unable to bring in the winning run after stranding three men on base as the inning closed.
Ruley led the squad at the plate after a 3-for-4 performance that featured one home run and two runs. Nuñez also had a day in the box after registering four RBIs and one run.
Isaac Baez was charged with the loss after surrendering three earned runs and scattering two hits in the fourth inning. Lucas Earle earned the start but did not factor into the final decision. Kaden Bean, Vance Serrano and Ricardo Rodriguez also made brief appearances on the bump.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday for the final game of the season against LA Pierce College. The game will take place on the LA Valley College campus as a neutral site setting.
Barrera commits to Graceland University
Hancock College football defensive back EJ Barrera has committed to continuing his academic and athletic career at Graceland University next season.
"I chose Graceland because coach (Patrick) Ross kept checking on me and has stayed in touch consistently throughout this process," shared Barrera. "I truly believe coach Ross will put me in a position to succeed while helping me meet my goals."
Barrera has spent two seasons with the Bulldogs, serving as a member of the program in 2019 and 2021. During his freshman season, the Colorado native recorded 33 tackles and 9.5 sacks after appearing in 11 games. He also recorded eight tackles and one interception in the fall before seeing his season get cut short due to injury.
"Being at Allan Hancock has been such a blessing," added Barrera. "I was able to take my time and get my academics together here, which helped prepare me to move on to the next level at Graceland."
Graceland University, located in Iowa, is a member of the NAIA and competes in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
High school baseball
Santa Ynez' Cloud strikes out 14
Santa Ynez senior Jackson Cloud struck out 14 batters in 6 2/3 innings of work Thursday in a 6-4 win over Santa Barbara.
The Pirates scored four runs in the seventh inning to seal the win.
Cloud gave up five hits and Adam Stephens made a dazzling diving catch to end the game.
Vic Heredia laced a pair of doubles for Santa Ynez and Caleb Cassidy provided a big two-run single in seventh.
The Pirates are 14-11 overall and 5-10 in Channel League play.
