Baseball Takes 3 of 4 in Pair of Doubleheaders

The South Mountain Community College baseball team enjoyed some stellar performances in doubleheaders against Yavapai Community College and Pima Community College. Against the Roughriders, the Cougars took a 4-2 decision in game one before falling 4-3 in game two. Three days later, SMCC won 7-5 and 15-1 against a previously unbeaten Pima Community College squad.

The Cougars will be in action this weekend against Phoenix College. On Friday, Feb. 21, SMCC hosts the Bears for a 3 p.m. matinee. The next day sends South Mountain Community College to Phoenix College for a 3 p.m. contest.

Pima Recap

The Cougars' offense led the way in the sweep of the Aztecs. The team totaled 22 runs, 19 hits, four doubles and a triple over the two games to hand Pima CC its first losses of the season.

In the first game, SMCC rallied from an early 4-0 deficit. Pima CC scored three in the first and one in the second before the Cougars tied the game in the fourth.

Efrain Cervantes and Justin Quinn started the frame with consecutive singles. A pitch hit Davis Heller to load the bases, and Ricky Munoz drove home Cervantes and Quinn with one of his two doubles in the game. Michael Quinones drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, and Holden Breeze tied the game with a two-run single.

The Cougars continued to attack, adding three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Dustin Bermudez started the rally with a lead-off triple. He then scored on a sac fly off the bat of Cervantes. With two outs, Quinn walked, and another pitch hit Heller. That brought up Munoz, who delivered his second two-run double of the game.

Pima threatened in the top of the seventh, but Parker Wakelyn worked his way out of the jam to earn the save. After the first two Aztecs reached safely, the Cougars picked one runner off at third, and then got a ground out and strikeout to end the game.

Jake Sansing earned the win for the Cougars. He threw five innings and had four strikeouts to go with four earned runs. Carter Krosky tossed the sixth and Wakelyn pitched the seventh to seal the victory.

Munoz finished 2 for 3 with four RBIs and a run scored. Breeze had two hits and two RBIs, and Quinn and Heller each scored two runs.

The second game featured an offensive explosion from the Cougars, who scored a season-high 15 runs.

Heller finished a perfect 4 for 4 with five RBIs, two doubles and two runs scored. Bermudez went 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Breeze, Cervantes, Luke Hyzdu and Branden Blakeman all scored multiple runs.

SMCC jumped out to a 3-1 lead through two innings. In the first, Breeze and Bermudez reached safely to start the frame. With two outs, Breeze scored on an RBI single from Heller, and Blakeman, who was running for Bermudez, scored on a wild pitch. In the next inning, Munoz scored on a wild pitch to give South Mountain Community College a 3-1 advantage.

Munoz added an RBI single to score Heller in the fourth before the Cougar offense erupted for 11 runs over the next two innings.

In the fifth, Cervantes had a two-run single, Heller had an RBI double and Bevacqua had an RBI single. In the sixth, Blakeman scored on an error, Bermudez had an RBI single, Quinn drew a bases-loaded walk, Heller had a three-run double and Munoz collected a sacrifice fly.

Bermudez picked up the win for SMCC, tossing five innings and recording four strikeouts. He scattered four hits and walked two. Brendan Anderson pitched the final two innings and had three strikeouts.

Yavapai Recap

The first game against Yavapai saw SMCC rally from an early 2-0 deficit to post their first three-game winning streak of the season.

In the bottom of the third, Justin Quinn hit a three-run home run to push the Cougars ahead for good. Dustin Bermudez and Efrain Cervantes scored on the deep fly.

SMCC added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth when Bermudez delivered an RBI single to plate Garrett Bevacqua. Three Cougars (Quinn, Bermudez and Bevacqua) all had two hits.

Brayden Brooks tossed a seven-inning, complete game to earn the win for the Cougars. He fanned 10 and walked one while firing 19 first-pitch strikes against the 30 batters he faced.

In game two, the Roughriders broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the seventh with a two-out double to snap SMCC's winning streak.

After Yavapai struck for two runs in the top of the first, South Mountain Community College answered with three runs in the bottom of the second.

Ricky Munoz tied the game on his third home run of the season, scoring Davis Heller on the play. Bevacqua added an RBI groundout to score Mason Skaugrad.

Holden Breeze and Heller each had two hits, and Brady Welch added a double in the loss.

Michael Sears took the loss for the Cougars, allowing two hits and one earned run in 2 innings of work. Jack Radford started for SMCC on the hill, tossing five innings and striking out six. Shawn Triplett threw the final two innings for South Mountain Community College.