The success of the Oxnard College baseball team hasn't stopped with a championship season on the diamond.

At least 10 Condors have signed to play for four-year schools next year.

"That's a large group, the most we've ever had," said Oxnard head coach Jon Larson. "We had a good group."

At least three players from the Western State Conference title-winning team will be playing Division I baseball next year. Third baseman Bryan Willson (Camarillo High), the WSC North Player of the Year, has signed with Central Arkansas University. Center fielder Brad Greve (Newbury Park) has signed with Long Island University. Catcher Zack McDonell (Pacifica) has signed with Hawaii.

That number would climb to four if pitcher Justin Bricker (Camarillo) can successfully walk onto the team at Stanford. The engineering student with a 4.0 GPA has already beaten long odds by successfully transferring to the prestigious Palo Alto school.

"It's pretty exciting for us," said assistant coach Roger Frash.

Pitchers Chris Defratus (Rio Mesa), Santos Reyes (Channel Islands) and Joey Juarez (Hueneme) will give Division II Colorado State-Pueblo a trio of Oxnard-native arms.

All-State picks Jonathan Erb (Camarillo) and J.C. Aguayo (Hueneme) highlight the Condors moving on to NAIA schools. First baseman Erb will swing it for Azusa Pacific. Outfielders Aguayo and Juan Reveles (Oxnard) are headed to Northwestern Oklahoma. First baseman Scott McNally will play for Friends University (Kan.)

"That's what it's all about," said Larson. "That's the most important thing."

The WSC North baseball race will be decided face to face this week.

As first-place Oxnard lost at home against Ventura, 6-4, Saturday second-place Hancock was busy beating Santa Barbara City, 7-6, so the teams are in a flat-footed tie at 13-4 with three games to play.

"It's going to be exciting," said Oxnard skipper Jon Larson. "We feel good. They're a good club. They've been playing really well too.

"But we're fine. Whoever catches and pitches better is going to take this thing."

Oxnard (23-10) plays at Ventura (15-17) Tuesday before finishing with a home-and-away series with Hancock (21-11) Thursday and Friday.

The WSC North overtook the powerhouse Orange Empire as the top conference in the SoCal RPI this week, adding to the argument that the its fourth-place team receive playoff consideration.

"Our league is very tough," said Larson. "The Orange Empire used to always get four or five teams in there. So I'm thinking if we're the top conference, we could get four."

Ventura, which is tied for fourth with Cuesta at 7-10, has reached the postseason in three of the past four years.

J.C. Aguayo's two-RBI single and Brian Willson's two-RBI double were the clutch hits as the Oxnard College baseball team used a five-run eighth inning to come from behind and beat visiting Santa Barbara City, 11-8, Tuesday afternoon.

Zack McDonell was 3 for 4, Jake Mahan was 2 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Harper White reached base and scored three times and Willson and Jonathan Erb also had two hits as the Condors (20-8, 10-2) completed a two-game sweep of second-place Santa Barbara (15-12, 7-5), which had won 10 of its previous 11.

"We're playing against some good teams and we're beating them," said Oxnard coach Jon Larson, whose team has won four straight. "So that's good."

The Condors opened up a 4-0 lead, but Santa Barbara battled back to tie the game 4-4 and 6-6 before taking a 8-6 lead entering the eighth inning.

Santa Barbara brought ace Zak Edgington out of the bullpen for his first relief appearance of the season, but White, McDonell and Brad Greve reached base to set the table for heroics by Aguayo and Willson.

Justin Bricker (5-1) went eight innings and Santos Reyes wriggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth for his second save.

Just six days removed from a nine-game winning streak, the Oxnard College baseball team is dealing with its first rut of a promising season.

J.C. Aguayo and Justin Bricker combined to throw a three-hitter, but five errors in the field and a few more on the basepaths conspired to push the Condors to their third loss in six days, 4-2, to visiting Citrus on Wednesday afternoon.

"That ain't right," said Oxnard coach Jon Larson. "We basically gave them the game."

Click here for the full story from Thursday's newspaper.

Leading 12-1 in the seventh inning March 25, Oxnard College skipper Jon Larson figured he was safe to take the ball from starting pitcher J.C. Aguayo.

Aguayo had held host Ventura down for six innings, but he had thrown 120 pitches and the Condors, even without closer Santos Reyes, who was on the shelf, seemed to have their 10th straight win sewn up.

"As soon as he came out all hell broke loose," said Larson.

Ventura piled up 11 runs on 11 hits in the seventh inning to tie the game and eventually won it by drawing a hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the 11th inning.

"You analyze a game like that a little bit," said Larson. "But you just have to forget it because it drives you crazy."

Oxnard (15-6, 7-1) still leads the Western State Conference's North Division by two games entering this afternoon's trip to second-place Hancock, but Thursday once again underlined the biggest issue for a powerful team that has lead in all 21 games this season, but has dropped five late, including four in walk-off fashion.

"Our bullpen has been our bugaboo," said Larson.

Despite VC loss, Oxnard remains No. 3 in Southern California in the ratings percentage index that is a significant component in postseason seeding.

And the Condors will host No. 1 Citrus (15-6) and No. 2 Santa Ana (15-5) in the next two weeks. The makeups of early season rainouts will be on Wednesday and April 6, respectively.

"It just so happens that we have them in our yard," said Larson. "Those will be fun games, that's for sure.

"We're up for the challenge."

Averaging more than 10 runs per game, the Oxnard College baseball team bringing to mind its powerhouse teams of the mid-1990s.

Freshmen Jonathan Erb, Blake Adame, and Jake Mahan join star returner J.C. Aguayo in the powerhouse lineup. Freshman Harper White, the grandson of Oxnard's first coach, Jerry White, is the lone starter without a home run.

"And he's 6-foot-5," said Oxnard coach Jon Larson. "We have a pretty physical lineup. We might be one of the better hitting teams we've ever had."

The Condors may only be 7-5 after Wednesday's 9-5 win over Glendale, but four of those losses are by one run.

"If we can keep our ERA in the 4s, we're going to be tough to beat," said Larson.

Baseball season has barely started, and it's already coming down to the final innings.

The Oxnard College baseball team allowed two runs in the home half of the ninth inning Wednesday to drop its season opener, 10-9, at Los Angeles Mission.

"Where's Brok Butcher?" asked Oxnard coach Jon Larson jokingly, invoking the name of the Condors old star closer.

Freshman Joey Ramirez, subbing in for injured all-conference outfielder Tyler Bevan, cracked a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday as the Ventura College baseball team won its season opener, 6-5, against No. 19-ranked Cerro Coso.

"Good to see the freshmen contributing," said Ventura coach Don Adams.

Opening weekend in the Bash at the Beach tournament continues this weekend. Sophomore starter Blair Walters gets the ball as Ventura visits Western State Conference rival Santa Barbara City at 10 a.m. and Oxnard hosts Victor Valley at 2 p.m.

"It'll be a clue about where we stand," said Adams.

The two local rivals will face each other 2 p.m. Saturday at Oxnard College, after hosting 10 a.m. home games.