Baseball Splits Season-Opening Series in Salt Lake City

The South Mountain Community College baseball team split a pair of doubleheaders against Salt Lake City CC on Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1. The Cougars stormed out to a pair of victories on Friday, 12-5 and 10-7, before falling twice on Saturday, 7-4 and 14-13.

Friday Recap

The Cougars flexed their offensive muscle on opening day, posting 22 runs and 22 hits over the two games. Freshman Holden Breeze had multiple hits in both contests, finishing 3 for 4 in the first game and 4 for 6 in the second game. He had a home run in each game and totaled four RBIs on the day.

Sophomore Efrain Cervantes had two hits in each game, three RBIs and a double in the doubleheader. Fellow sophomore Ricky Munoz had a double, a home run and three RBIs in the second game while sophomore Bobby Pierce went 2 for 5 with a home run and a double in the second game.

Game One

Behind a strong start from sophomore Brayden Brooks, the Cougars used an eight-run fifth inning to defeat Salt Lake City CC 12-5 in the season opener. After taking an early 1-0 lead in the second inning, the floodgates opened for SMCC in the top of the fifth.

Sophomore Brodie Marino started things with a lead-off walk, and he then moved to second on a single from Breeze. A bunt single by JD Wadleigh loaded the bases with no outs, and Marino scored on a bases-loaded walk by Quinn.  Dustin Bermudez and Breeze would subsequently score on wild pitches to keep the momentum rolling.

As the inning continued, Cervantes recorded an RBI groundout, Pierce scored on a wild pitch and Jake Haze posted a sac fly. In his second at-bat of the inning,  Marino recorded an RBI single, and Bermudez scored on another wild pitch to give SMCC a 9-0 advantage.

Although Salt Lake CC responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars added a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to maintain the advantage.

Brooks earned the win for South Mountain, tossing five innings with seven strikeouts. TJ Czyz pitched the final two innings, fanning one.

Game Two

Falling behind 5-0 after two innings, SMCC rallied to tie the game in the sixth after scoring twice in the fifth. Sophomore Brady Welch started the rally with a one-out, solo home run. After a pitch hit freshman Connor Watson, he scored on an RBI single by Breeze. The Cougars then loaded the bases with two outs, and Breeze walked home to tie the game on a bases-loaded free pass from Justin Quinn.

The Cougars added runs in the seventh and eighth, courtesy of a Munoz home run, and an RBI groundout from Pierce. However, Salt Lake City chipped away with runs in the seventh and ninth to force extra innings.

SMCC wasted little time once the game got into extra frames. Pierce singled with one out and moved to second after Quinn drew a walk. Cervantes then laced a single through the left side to score Pierce, and he advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Munoz then plated Quinn and Cervantes with a double to center.

Redshirt sophomore Damien Hernandez then nailed down the save with three quick outs in the bottom of the 10th.  Trey Goodrich earned the win for the Cougars, getting the final two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Jack Radford started the game for SMCC and posted five Ks and two earned runs in 2.0 innings of work.

Saturday Recap

The Cougars could not stop Salt Lake City CC in the late innings as SMCC dropped both ends of the doubleheader.

Game One

In the first game, the two teams were tied at 2-2 after five complete innings. South Mountain then scored twice in the top of the eighth to take a 4-2 lead. Skaugrud started things with a walk, and Connor Watson entered the game as a pinch-runner.

After stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch, Watson scored on a sac fly by Noah Bachman.  Marino then drew a walk, advanced to second when Breeze was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI single from Wadleigh. He finished 2 for 3, and five other Cougars had a base hit.

However, the advantage was short-lived as SLCC scored five times in the bottom of the eighth to take the 7-4 victory.

Bermudez took the loss for the Cougars, surrendering six runs in 3.2 innings work while recording five strikeouts. Jake Sansing started the game for South Mountain and had six Ks in four innings of work.

Game Two

In the second game, South Mountain overcame an early 10-0 deficit and tied the game at 12-12 in the top of the sixth. However, Salt Lake added two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and a late Cougar rally came up a run short.

At the plate, Wadleigh, Quinn and Welch each had two base hits. Welch added a home run and three RBIs while Breeze, Haze, Munoz and Wadleigh all had doubles.

Derek Decolati took the loss for the Cougars, allowing two earned runs in an inning of relief. Tyler Magin started the game for SMCC, and Matt Bohnert and Michael Sears also pitched in the contest.

The Cougars continue action this week with games at Phoenix College (Feb. 5, 3 p.m.) and four games as part of the Baum Bat Invitational at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ. The team will play a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 7, and then single games on Saturday, Feb. 8, and Sunday, Feb. 9.