Gauchos advance to the regional finals

Sophomore Dylan Diaz leads off third base. Diaz and the Gauchos defeated Golden West College 8-7 this Sunday to move on to the regional finals this weekend. (courtesy of Saddleback Sports Information)

The Saddleback College men’s baseball team advanced this Sunday to the regionals after a close 8-7 win over Golden West College.

The game started with the Gauchos scoring three runs in the first inning and extending their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the second. Because of control issues by Golden West’s Ryan Kayoda, the Gauchos were able to maintain their comfortable lead until he was replaced by Alec Harris.

Things took a turn in the bottom of the second inning when Golden West scored six runs to take a 6-5 lead, leading the Gauchos to switch pitchers to John Sheaks.

Unfortunately, in the sixth inning, Golden West was still able to score on Sheaks with two outs in the inning to take a 7-5 lead.

Saddleback’s luck changed when River Fawley was hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the sixth inning. Jack Kaloogian then followed with a single and Dylan Diaz delivered a two-out double, allowing Fawley and Kaloogian to score and tie the game the game at 7-7. The Gauchos then tipped the scales when Brett Barker hit a single to give them an 8-7 lead. That score ended up being the final score.

Saddleback shut down Golden West down for the rest of the game and held them scoreless. Trevor Charpie got his fourth save of the season and John Sheaks got the win.

The Gauchos will now move on to the regional finals to play Palomar College. The two schools will play a three game series at Palomar to see who advances to the state tournament.

The series will be played this weekend at an undisclosed time.

Comments

comments