Chargers Eliminated in Super Regionals

By Robert Nilsen

EL CAJON, CA – The Cypress College baseball team wrapped up their season this past weekend as they fell in the Super Regionals to No. 2 seed Grossmont College.

Chargers Sophomore ace Andrew Quezada (9-2) got the start in Game 1 and received the loss despite pitching 8.2 innings while allowing just 3 runs on 7 hits and striking out 7 batters. Quezada finished the season with an era of 1.17 with 85 strikeouts and 6 complete games. Garrett Calvert (2-for-4, RBI) led the Chargers offense in game 1.

In a low scoring affair, Grossmont got on the board first on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning. Calvert responded with a game tying homerun in the top of the fifth inning to make it 1-1. Grossmont retook the lead on a homerun of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Chargers were able to tie the game on an RBI single by Cory Wildhagen (1-for-4, RBI) in the top of the eighth inning. However, the Chargers allowed the winning run to score in the bottom of the ninth inning as they fell 3-2.

After losing game 1 the Chargers turned to Henry Martinez (5-4) in game 2 hoping to even the series and send it to a third game. The Chargers were unable to do so as Martinez receive the loss while pitching 6.2 innings and allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and striking out 6 batters. Martinez finished the season with a 2.84 ERA and 70 strikeouts. Trevor Fonseca (1-for-1, 2 RBI) led the Chargers offense in game 2.

The Griffins were able to open the scoring as they took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. The Chargers fought back as they scored 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on a base hit by Wildhagen to make it 2-2. The Chargers then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning on a homerun by Matt Schmidt to make it 3-2. The Chargers lead was short lived as Grossmont grabbed 4 runs in the top of the seventh inning as they went on to win 6-3.

"I'm proud of the way our players continued to develop throughout the course of the season. Although we came up a little bit short in the postseason, we did a lot of things very well throughout the year. Our sophomores did a great job of setting the example for the young guys to follow and we will be ready to compete again in 2018," said first year Head Coach Anthony Hutting.

The Chargers finished the season with a 29-14 overall record and finished in third place in the Orange Empire Conference with an 11-10 record.

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