CYPRESS, CA – The Cypress College Baseball team (28-13, 12-9) came from behind against Fullerton College to advance to the Southern California Championships. After dropping the first game on Friday 5-0, the Chargers came back with a dominant 11-4 victory on Saturday and clinched the series on Sunday with a nail-biting 5-4 win in 10 innings.
The Chargers were shutout on Friday in the opening game of the series. Despite collecting nine hits, the Chargers left nine runners on base and could not capitalize on run-scoring opportunities. Cypress' Tylor Megill (10-2, 3.51 ERA) threw for six innings and notched eight strikeouts, but gave up all five runs for the loss. Fullerton's ace Randall Ortiz (9-2, 3.57 ERA) threw a nine-inning shutout, striking out 10 for the win. The Hornets struck early in the first inning when Shane Carrier (2-for-3, 3 RBI, 1 run) hit a two-run single for the lead. Carrier later sparked a three-run rally in the sixth inning with an RBI single. Following a double by David Miranda (2-for-4, 1 run), Josh Valbuena knocked a two-run single to right field to give Fullerton their final run of the game.
Cypress College found their offense on Saturday and took the second game with a resounding 11-4 victory. Andrew Quezada (8-3, 2.93 ERA) was charged with three runs in 7.2 innings, but struck out five for his eighth win of the season. The Chargers got on the board early in the first inning when Elijah Skipps (1-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 runs) hit an RBI double to bring home a runner from second. Nick Reeser (2-for-4, RBI, 2 runs) followed up with an RBI single to left field. After Bo Coolen (3-for-5, 2 RBI) got on base with a single, Nate Rodriguez (2-for-4, 2 RBI) hit an RBI single to right to give Cypress a 3-0 lead. Holding onto a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning, the Chargers scored three more runs to put the game out of Fullerton's reach.
The Chargers completed their comeback on Sunday afternoon thanks to a walk off single from Elijah Skipps for the 5-4 victory in 10 innings. Nick Reeser (2-for-2, 3 RBI) started things off with a two-run single to right field to give Cypress a 2-0 lead. After scoring a run in the third inning off a fielder's choice, the Hornets tied the game in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single from Andrew Piriano (1-for-4, RBI). The Chargers took back the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Reeser hit an RBI double to left to score Willie Aguilar from second base. The Chargers were two outs away from winning the game, but the Hornets tied the game in the ninth when David Miranda lined an RBI single to shallow center off Sebastian Lopez. The Hornets added another run in the tenth inning when Laine Huffman (1-for-4, RBI) hit an RBI single, but the Chargers refused to go away. With bases loaded and no outs, Elijah Skipps hit a sharp single to right field to score Aaron Case from third. However, Shane Carrier threw the ball over the catcher's head from right field and Brandon Gonzalez seized the opportunity to score the game-winning run.
The CCCAA Southern California State Championship will be hosted by Cypress College as they face Grossmont College (31-10) this Friday, May 20-Sunday, May 22.
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