By Wes McCurtis
SANTA ANA, CA – The Cypress College baseball team (15-5, 2-2 OEC) opened their 3-game series against Santa Ana College (14-6, 0-4 OEC) at Don Sneddon Field on Tuesday afternoon. Sophomore pitcher Andrew Quezada (5-1) tossed a no-hitter in an 11-0 victory over the Dons. The Cal State Fullerton committ retired the first 17 batters he faced before walking Ricardo Salinas with 2 outs in the sixth inning. Another runner reached on an error in the eighth but Quezada eventually forced an inning-ending double play. He retired 15 batters on groundouts, including seven in a row between the first and third innings.
Quezada's no-hitter is the first on record for the storied Cypress College baseball program. According to Coach Scott Pickler, former Charger Ara Petrozian was the last pitcher with a chance at a no-hitter in the 1996 CCCAA State Championship Final Four. With 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Petrozian had not yet allowed a hit. Then second baseman Keith Ginter walked to the mound and let Petrozian know about his opportunity for a no-hitter with just 1 out remaining. As baseball aficionados could guess, Petrozian wound up with a 2-hitter following the mound visit from Ginter.
Who knew it would take 21 more seasons for a Cypress pitcher to actually accomplish the feat.
Seemingly lost in the victory, the Cypress offense, which has struggled to score runs as of late, came up with their second highest run total of the season. Angel Ortiz (2-for-4, 4RBI) and Brandon Alamo (2-for-5, 2RBI) powered the Cypress offense.
The Chargers will host Santa Ana in game 2 of the series on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
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