Gamesheets: Chargers to face Santa Rosa in first State game

Cypress, CA - The Chargers are heading to Fresno as one of four teams to bid for the 2013 State crown. Going to State had not been unfamiliar to Coach Scott Picker who engineered the Chargers there ten times and won four titles. The last title was won in 2003 and the last time Pickler led his Chargers there was 2007.  The Chargers are facing Santa Rosa in the first game of the double-elimination format.

Participants:  Santa Rosa, Feather River, Fullerton and Cypress.

SANTA ROSA BEAR CUBS

Santa Rosa Bear Cubs (33-7-1) are the Champions of the Big 8 Conference. The Bear Cubs got here by sweeping through the Super Regionals. They beat Solana 13-3, San Joaquin Delta 9-4 and 5-1. Previously in the Regionals, they beat Los Medanos two games to one.  They lost to the Mustangs 5-3 then came back to beat them twice 4-2 and 5-4 to advance to the Supers. The Bear Cubs won the State in 2005 and had a solid baseball program.

Santa Rosa players to watch:

• Tyler Sanders  4-1, 1.42
• Brian Bynum  4-1, 1.82
• Jason Alexander  7-1, 1.88
• Nico Filice  .325/.423/.475
• Taylor Martin .344/.423/.475
• Ryan Xepoleas  .306/.419/.405
• As a team, the Bear Cubs hit .270-5-222

The Bear Cubs are 22-0-1 when leading after 7 innings. They had not lost more than two games in a row this past season. Their longest winning streak during the season was seven games.

FEATHER RIVER GOLDEN EAGLES

Feather River Golden Eagles (29-12) are the Champions of the Golden Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles went 7-0 in their conference tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals. They beat Sierra in the deciding game of the Supers to clinch a berth in the State. This is the second time in the history of the program that the Golden Eagles amde it to State. The last time was 2003 (ironically that was the last year that the Chargers won it all.)

Feather River players to watch:

• Jake Bray  .372/.441/.572
• Justin Bohn  .337/.413/..491
• Kaimana Alquiza  .330/.434/.432
• Jake Puckett  10-2, 1.47
• Matt Thomas  8-1, 1.60
• Michael Bennett  5-5, 2.10

With a team ERA of 1.90, the Golden Eagles are 27-1 when scoring four runs or more. They scored in double-figure seven times and won all of them.

FULLERTON HORNETS

The Chargers' conference foe and sister school Fullerton (30-13) won the conference title for the first time and made the Regionals the second time in its school history. The Hornets opened their Regionals with a loss to East LA but came back to win the next two to advance to the Supers. They played Palomar three times over the weekend and were down 6-0 in the final deciding game. They scored seven runs in the final three innings to with the Supers 7-6 and advance to State. During the season the Hornets beat the Chargers twice on their home turf while the Chargers won at Cypress.

Fullerton players to watch:

• Dakota Wix  .416/.453/.533  (Conf Player of the Year)
• Eric Lewis  .361/.454/401 (First-Team All-Conf)
• Troy Mulcahey  .33/.379/.465  (First-Team All-Conf)
• Ryan Joyce  .297/.372/.406   (First-Team All-Conf)

The Hornets scored in double-digit 12 times and were 12-0 when doing so. They are 2-9 when scoring 3 runs or less. They are 23-3 when leading the games after seven innings.