Cardinal varsity takes two games from Santa Clara

The Cardinal varsity baseball squad still has a chance of the playoff spot after winning two games against Santa Clara last week. Santa Paula traveled to the Saints’ home field for the first game and out hit Santa Clara for a 13-3 win.Seven Santa Clara errors played a big part in the overwhelming victory, along with a strong pitching performance from Mikey Cortez. “Mikey took a no-hitter into the seventh before giving up two hits,” said Coach Gerry Sandoval. “Mikey was dealing today.” The win gives Cortez a 5-5 season record on the mound.Offensively the Cards got 13 runs off 13 hits and had 11 stolen bases. Cortez was 2-4 at bat and Tony Manzano went 3-5 with two stolen bases. Cortez, Manzano and Mark Castaneda all recorded doubles for the day. Castaneda also came in as a relief pitcher to wrap up the win.The Cardinals hosted the Saints Friday for the second game and took an 18-10 win.Mark Salazar’s grand slam home run in the second inning gave the Cardinals an early lead. “That was a huge inning,” said Coach Sandoval. “Sally clutched up big time.” The Cards scored in every inning and overcame a couple of rallies by the Saints.