Posted: May 03, 2026
No. 16 SMCC Baseball Defeats Glendale CC to Advance to Region I Championship Series
Glendale Community College
(32-25)
0
South Mountain Community College
(41-16)
2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Glendale Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
|
South Mountain Community College | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Glendale Community College
0
South Mountain Community College
10
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Glendale Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
|
South Mountain Community College | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 0 |
PHOENIX ---
The No. 16 South Mountain Community College baseball team (42-16) defeated Glendale CC 2-0 on April 30 and 10-0 (5 innings) on May 1 to win the Region I Division II Semifinal and advance to the Region I Division II Championship. Freshmen Cody Stoller and Gennaro Brito turned in outstanding performances on the mound, while fellow freshmen Aidan Murphy and Liu Rodriguez Jr. combined for seven runs, six hits, three RBIs, two doubles, and three walks over the two victories to lead the Cougar offense.
Game One Recap
The first game was a pitcher's duel between Stoller (8-0) and the Gauchos' Brady Anderson. Stoller scattered six hits over 6.2 innings with six strikeouts and no walks to earn the victory. Anderson allowed five hits, one earned run, and six walks to go with two strikeouts to take the loss.
Stoller retired eight straight batters at one point early in the contest, and Murphy made a diving catch in right to end a threat in the fourth. Freshman Izaiah Moraga picked up his third save of the year with 2.2 innings of hitless relief. He struck out two batters.
SMCC broke through with a run in the third and fourth. In the third, sophomore Jack Meissner brought in Murphy with a fielder's choice, and sophomore Bryan Lorenz drove in Rodriguez Jr. with a two-out RBI single in the fourth.
Rodriguez Jr. was 2 for 4 with the run, while sophomores Bobby Pierce Jr., Luke Hewes, and Nuri Todd added singles.
Game Two Recap
The Cougars' offense came to life in the second game of the series, scoring nine runs across the fourth and fifth innings to post the 10-0, five-inning victory.
For his part, Brito (1-3) made most of that irrelevant with five innings of shutout baseball to earn his first win of the season. He allowed two hits and fanned five over the five frames.
Offensively, freshman Brandon Ornelas put SMCC ahead with an RBI fielder's choice in the first that plated Murphy.
In the fourth, Hewes singled to start the inning and moved to third on a double from Rodriguez Jr. Sophomore Ernie Alvarez brought in Hewes with a sac fly, and Todd drove in Rodriguez Jr. with an RBI single to put SMCC ahead 3-0.
After Murphy singled to move Todd to third, Pierce Jr. roped a two-out, two-run triple into the corner in right to put SMCC ahead 5-0.
In the fifth, Rodriguez Jr. had an RBI single to score Meissner, Murphy slashed a two-run double to score Hewes and Rodriguez Jr., Lorenz posted an RBI single, and Meissner ended the game with an RBI single that scored Lorenz.
Murphy was 2 for 3 with three runs, two RBIs, one walk, and a double. Rodriguez Jr. was 2 for 3 with two runs, a double, and an RBI, while Hewes was 2 for 2 with two runs and a double. Pierce Jr. was the fourth Cougar with two hits, finishing 2 for 2 with two RBIs and a sac bunt.
