Daniel Vergara strikes out eight in Marshall's 3-0 win over Sylmar

SYLMAR, Calif. -- Daniel Vergara threw a gem on Saturday morning. Marshall's senior pitcher struck out eight Sylmar hitters in a 3-0 Barristers win. He allowed only two hits in six innings.

It's an impressive stat line, but Marshall head coach Bryan Akasaka has seen better from Vergara this season. 

"He had a good day," Akasaka said. "He didn't have his best stuff out there, but he battled for us for six innings and that's all you can really ask for from a pitcher, to go out there and give it your all."

Akasaka holds his players to a high standard. It's a big reason why Marshall (23-3) has won 18 games in a row and is 8-0 in the Northern League. Vergara's fastball, change up and curveball were all sharp on Saturday, but his slider wasn't.

"My slider was off," Vergara said. "But I had three good pitches on."

The difference in the game came in the seventh inning when Sylmar pulled starter Frank Garcia after he had hurled six scoreless innings and also struck out eight. Sylmar sophomore Matthew Benzor came in in relief. He gave up a lead off single to Lestat Jimenez and then an RBI single to Ivan Torres three batters later. Following an intentional walk, Geovanny Hernandez popped up a two-RBI double that the Sylmar left fielder lost in the sun. 

"We're just hitters, man," Vergara said. "We can get stuff done, piece things together."

In the bottom of the seventh, Hernandez came in to record the save striking out the side. 

MARSHALL LOOKS OPEN DIVISION BOUND

Marshall hasn't lost since March 19th. They're a good bet to make the 12 team City Section Open Division playoff field when the seeds come out next month. 

Even though the Barristers dropped a non-league game 5-4 to a Taft team that most likely won't make the Open Divison playoffs back in February, regular season wins over Carson and now Sylmar should be enough to give Marshall an Open Division playoff berth.

Marshall has never made the Open Division playoffs since the City Section changed its playoff format in 2018.

"We've earned it," Vergara said when asked about Marshall potentially playing in the City's upper-Division playoffs.