It seemed nothing short of a bulldozer was stopping the Yuba College 49ers from scoring in the second game of the three-game series. After Friday’s game opener win, the 49ers took the field with a confidence that they would sweep the Cougars.
Anthony Stolo began the rally with a lead-off single to left field. Tyson Burton, the pitcher for the Lassen Cougars could not find his mark, walking the next two batters, which set up Yuba College to score five runs in the first inning.
With Brennan Alejo on base, Chris Stocker swung the bat a few times then casually walked to the batter’s box. Someone in the crowd cheered, “C’mon 29….you can do it.” And he did. The soft thud of the hit made you think it would fall short, but the ball continued flying over the fence in left field. The end of the third inning, Yuba College led 10-0. Later, Stocker said, “I got the pitch I was looking for – put a good swing on it – and good things happen.”
Brandon Rader hit an infield grounder to score Dallas Walden for the final run in the eighth inning, and the final score 16-0. Walden,whose consistent hits included a triple into center-field, said, “We jumped out with an intensity level that they couldn’t match.”
The Cougars did match that intensity in the second game of the double-header. In the third inning, Lassens’ Zach Garcia hit a double to score two followed by Justin Bowman’s drive into center-field. Kyle Ford would finish the inning with a triple scoring Davis Murphy, and the Cougars led 5-1.
The 49ers removed starting pitcher Jake Johnson from the game in the fourth inning, replacing him with left-hander Ray Osuna. Yuba College managed to score two more runs, but the Cougars added a run in the fifth, and two more off a home-run by Troy Torres. Coach Tim Gloyd made another pitching change in the eighth inning bringing in Todd Borcher, and finally Brandon Pope to close the game.
Nevertheless, the damage was already done. The Yuba College 49ers dropped the second game 8-3.
Along with the inability for the players to hit in a pinch situation, Coach Gloyd said the pitching played a factor in today’s loss, “We didn’t pitch well.”
Correction: February 14
The final score was 17-0 in the first game.
Comment Policy: Comments are welcomed and encouraged. However, the editorial board reserves the right to edit or delete, without notice, any comments submitted to the blog. For more details, see our full Comment Policy.