Cougars Fall to Cochise College in Regional Semifinal

PHOENIX --- 

The South Mountain Community College baseball team (31-15) lost 10-2 to Cochise College in an NJCAA Region I Division I semifinal contest at Central Arizona on May 6. Holden Breeze had a triple and run scored, Justin Quinn had a double, an RBI and a stolen base and Esteban Hernandez scored a run and stole a base, but the Apaches struck early and put the game away with a six-run eighth inning.

Cochise scored three runs in the top of the second off SMCC starter Carter Krosky. However, an error in the inning meant that only one of the runs was earned.

In the third, Quinn hit a two-out RBI double to score Hernandez and cut the Cochise lead to 3-1. After the Apaches tacked on a run in the fifth, the Cougars cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth when McKay Barney drove in Breeze with an RBI single.

However, the Apaches pulled away in the eighth as six of the first seven batters reached safely, and a two-run home run gave them the 10-2 advantage.

Krosky took the loss, falling to 6-4 on the season. He had six strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work. Alec Stanfield tossed 2.1 innings of relief, and TJ Czyz threw the final 1.2 innings for the Cougars.

SMCC will look to rebound quickly as it returns to action on Friday, May 7. The Cougars will play at 2:30 p.m. and face the loser of a Cochise-Central Arizona game at 11 a.m. The winner of the 2:30 p.m. game advances to face the winner of the 11 a.m. game on Saturday, May 8.