 |
|
A Sunday Rout: Cougar Baseball Crushes La Sierra |
|
Box Score (Game One) Playing in their first game of the season at San Marcos High, Cougar baseball took advantage of the friendly dimensions (for hitters) to score 27 runs in Sunday’s double-header sweep of La Sierra. CSUSM won a 16-1 laugher in game one, and coasted to an 11-6 win in game two. Game one featured Cougar starter Chris Skaalen against La Sierra’s ace Chris Olmo. After Skaalen worked around a two-out error in the first, the Cougar lineup went to work. Austin Way drew a one-out walk, and Tristan Gale slapped a double to left. A walk to Terry Moritz loaded the bases, and Jared Suwyn smashed an RBI single up the middle. The ball hopped the centerfielder’s glove, allowing all three runs to score, and Suwyn to reach third. He was doubled in by Austin Coleman, and a Mike Pena single ended Olmo’s day after 2/3 of an inning. Reliever Ken Curriel didn’t fare any better, promptly allowing a two-RBI single Johnny Omahen, giving CSUSM a 6-0 lead after one. Skaalen cruised through the top of the second, and Way led off the bottom of the inning with a high home run to right that just cleared the fence. After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Suwyn knocked a single, and a walk to Jackson Chapelone loaded the bases yet again. A wild pitch allowed the first run to score, and Coleman stroked a single to center to make it 9-0. Skaalen stranded a couple runners in getting through a scoreless third. Though he battled his control at times, the flame-throwing righty was nonetheless very effective. He threw five relatively easy innings, allowing just five hits and one run. He walked two and struck out four while picking up the win. In the third, Moritz missed a home run by a few feet, settling for a two-run single. A dropped pop up got the Cougars another run in the fifth. Later that same inning, Omahen sliced a two-RBI single, Louie Russo drove an RBI base hit off the wall, and Way hit an RBI double to virtually the same spot, making it 16-1. The Cougar bullpen kept it at that for the final two innings of the seven inning contest. Grant Harrell threw a scoreless sixth, and Eric Julienne struck out the side in order in the seventh to close out the rout. Game two brought much of the same. CSUSM got started early, with Jason Hinton drawing a leadoff walk off La Sierra starter Kevin DeLeon. The speedy Hinton didn’t wait long to score: he stole second, stole third, and advanced home when the throw to third skipped into left field. Ricardo Moran and Austin Way followed up with walks of their own, and Terry Moritz tripled them in with a shot to the gap in right-center. Later in the inning, Louie Russo drove in a couple more runs with a base hit off the leftfield wall, giving CSUSM a 5-0 lead. Those runs came in support of starter Lance McCormick. While the righty lacks overpowering stuff, he mixes his fastball, changeup, and curveball well, and has tremendous control – making him the ideal Cougar pitcher to protect a big lead. McCormick worked quick, threw strikes, and got a lot of groundballs on the way to an outstanding start: 4 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run (0 earned), 0 walks, 2 K’s. He got more support in the second, with Austin Way and Dane Ponciano tallying RBI doubles, and Morgan Wynne providing an RBI single to make it 8-0. The following inning, Jason Hinton showed he’s got more tools than speed, crushing a two-run homer to right. La Sierra closed the gap slightly to 10-2 with runs in the fourth and fifth, but the Cougars re-extended the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Following a Ricardo Moran double, Gale hit a sac fly to make it 11-2. La Sierra got four in the sixth off reliever Mike Raedel, who didn’t record an out. With the lead suddenly down to a somewhat-tenuous five runs, Jeff Stephenson was able to shut the door and not allow a run. CSUSM was held scoreless in the sixth, leaving it to the bullpen to protect the 11-6 lead. McClinton Heil struck out the first hitter on three pitches, but found the bases loaded after an infield single, bloop single, and walk. Reliever Johnny Holtman was called in to get out of the jam, and he delivered. Holtman struck out DeLeon with a nasty curveball, and induced a groundout to end a game that had become a little closer than it probably should have been. The 10-11-1 Cougars will look to get over .500 on Tuesday when they take on Master’s College at Escondido High.
|