Posted: May 09, 2026
No. 14 SMCC Baseball Defeats Chandler-Gilbert CC to Win Region I Division II Championship
Chandler-Gilbert Community College
3
South Mountain Community College
4
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Chandler-Gilbert Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
|
South Mountain Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Chandler-Gilbert Community College
8
South Mountain Community College
12
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Chandler-Gilbert Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 1 |
|
South Mountain Community College | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | X | 12 | 14 | 1 |
PHOENIX ---
The No. 14 South Mountain Community College baseball team (44-16) defeated Chandler-Gilbert CC 4-3 on Thursday, May 7 and 12-8 on Friday, May 8, to win the Region I Division II Tournament Championship for the second-straight season. In game one, freshmen pitchers Cody Stoller and Izaiah Moraga teamed up to limit a dangerous Coyote offense, and sophomore Ernie Alvarez delivered a key two-out, two-run single in the 4-3 victory. In the second game, sophomores Bryan Lorenz, Nuri Todd, and Luke Hewes homered to help deliver a third-straight Region I title for the Cougars.
May 7 Recap
Stoller delivered 5.2 innings of four-hit baseball to improve to 9-0 on the season. He worked around two earned runs and three walks while fanning five Coyotes to earn the victory. Moraga recorded his fourth save of the season with 3.1 innings of relief work. He scattered four hits and one earned run to go with two strikeouts.
SMCC scored all four of its runs in the fourth inning. Freshman Aidan Murphy singled to start the frame and scored on an RBI double from Lorenz, his 17th of the season. After sophomore Bobby Pierce Jr. singled to put runners on the corners, freshman Brandon Ornelas drove in Lorenz with an RBI single. With two outs in the frame, Alvarez smacked a two-run single up the middle that scored the pair and put SMCC ahead 4-0.
The Coyotes scratched across single runs in the fifth, sixth, and eighth, but the Cougars held off the rally. CGCC put a runner on third with one out in the ninth, but Moraga got a groundout and a flyout to seal the victory.
Alvarez went 2 for 3 with a double and the two RBIs.
May 8 Recap
The Cougar offense came out firing on all cylinders, building a 7-0 lead over the first four innings behind home runs from Lorenz and Todd. However, the Coyotes pushed five runs across in the fifth to close the deficit. SMCC responded with five of its own in the sixth, punctuated by Hewes' three-run blast. CGCC did not go quietly, scoring three times in the ninth before Lorenz made the final out on a grounder to first.
SMCC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI sac bunt from Ornelas that scored Pierce Jr., who doubled to start the inning. In the third, Todd and Pierce Jr. drew walks to start the frame and cruised home on a three-run blast from Lorenz, his sixth of the season.
In the fourth, freshman Liu Rodriguez Jr. doubled and scored on an RBI single from Alvarez. Todd then drove him home with a two-run home run, his third of the year, over the fence in right.
Pierce Jr. reached on an error to start the sixth and moved to third on a single from Lorenz. Murphy brought in Pierce Jr. with an RBI sac bunt, and Ornelas drove in Lorenz with an RBI single. After sophomore Jack Meissner singled, Hewes cleared the bases with a three-run home run, his sixth of the year, to left.
Meissner led SMCC with three hits, including a double, and scored once. Lorenz went 2 for 5 with two runs and three RBIs, while Alvarez was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Rodriguez Jr. was the third Cougar with two hits, collecting doubles in both outfield corners, and Pierce Jr. scored three times. Todd finished 1 for 3 with two runs, two RBIs, two walks, and a home run.
On the mound, sophomore Diego Rodriguez delivered four innings of strong relief work to help seal the win. He worked around eight hits, three earned runs, and one walk to go with seven punchouts. Freshman Gennaro Brito started the game for SMCC and went 4.1 innings with two hits, three earned runs, and three walks plus six strikeouts. Freshman Denzel Montijo earned the win and saw time in relief, and sophomore Lukas Geisler recorded the final out in the victory.
SMCC won the Region I Division I title in 2024 before moving to NJCAA Division II play before the 2025 season. In that 2025 season, SMCC won the Region I Division II Tournament and the Division II West District Championship, advancing to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Okla.
