Baseball Game Preview: Ventura Cougars vs. Newbury Park Panthers

The Ventura Cougars will head out to take on the Newbury Park Panthers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Ventura is coming into the contest hot, having won their last nine games.

Ventura barely beat Dos Pueblos the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Cougars never let the Chargers get on the board and left with a 6-0 victory on Friday. Considering the Cougars have won nine matchups by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Caleb Sebek

Runs Batted In (Career)

05/02/25 vs Dos Pueblos	3
03/21/25 vs Buena	2
03/11/25 vs San Marcos	2
02/21/25 vs Quartz Hill	2
03/22/24 vs Oxnard	2

Caleb Sebek and Cooper Tinkey made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Sebek pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Tinkey didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Sebek has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances. At the plate, Sebek went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Tinkey went 2-for-3 with one run and one double. Those three RBI gave Sebek a new career-high.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact as five players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Josh Woodworth, who went 1-for-3 with one run.

Oaks Christian hit Newbury Park with a seven-run first inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Panthers lost 9-2 to the Lions. The Panthers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Newbury Park also got a good showing from Noah Habib, who tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. That's the first time Habib hasn't allowed a single earned run since back in March.

Ventura's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-6-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Newbury Park, their loss dropped their record down to 12-14.

Ventura suffered a grim 9-0 defeat to Newbury Park when the teams last played back in March of 2023. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.