Kaprielian battles, pulls out victory for Beckman

Beckman pitcher James Kaprielian has had better starts.

But Kaprielian was tough enough Thursday to throw a complete game, leading the Patriots to a 5-3 Pacific Coast League victory over Woodbridge at Beckman.

Kaprielian (6-1) allowed seven hits, struck out seven, walked four and hit two.

Beckman (15-5, 8-1) completed a league sweep of Woodbridge to remain atop the PCL. The Warriors defeated the Patriots, 9-3, in the OCNissan Select Invitational April 5.

"James was not at his best today," Beckman coach Kevin Lavalle said. "That really shows you how good he is. It's easy to win when you have everything working.

"James fought and scratched and he battled today. Three or four times I was one batter away from pulling him out and he just kept pulling the bacon out of the fire."

Woodbridge (10-11, 4-5) trailed, 5-1, going into the final inning. Forrest Djavaherian walked to open the inning and Brandon Horth doubled to put runners on second and third.

With two outs, Ben Wylly singled to right field to drive in two runs. But Kaprielian struck out Brennan Leitao to end the game.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Woodbridge, which made six errors, leading to four unearned runs.

Woodbridge starter Matt Budgell definitely deserved a better fate. Budgell (2-4) pitched into the fourth inning before being relieved by Leitao.

"You can't win a ballgame making that many mistakes," Woodbridge coach Tim Murray said. "Our kids battled, I can't say enough about our kids' resiliency, but we made too many mistakes today.

"We made mistakes on the bases too."

Beckman, which had five hits, cashed in the errors.

In the second inning, Spencer Ludin and Will Barring singled and Tyler Cook moved them over with a sacrifice. Robert Solby then reached on an error, which allowed two runs to score. Solby was credited with one RBI.

Woodbridge cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the third inning. Sam Lemmon singled and came around to score when Trevor Walker was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

But Wylly lined into a double play as Walker was doubled off first. Leitao was then retired to end a possible big inning for the Warriors.

Beckman pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the inning.

In the fourth inning, Connor Deneen reached on an error and scored on a double by Garret Brown. Brown went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an overthrow.

"Budgell pitched great, but it's a team game," Murray said. "We need to be better in all phases of the game. Today, I thought we swung the bat better and I thought we pitched fine."

Woodbridge, which had seven hits, was led offensively by Horth, who was 2 for 4 with a run scored.