Steve Akana / Roundup
Pierce College baseball keeps their Western State Conference playoff hopes alive with 10-6 victory over College of the Canyons at Joe Kelly Field yesterday.
The Brahmas starting pitcher Nick Rodarte who hit 3 batters and gave up a run off a wild pitch early in the game was able to get focused in the fourth inning, allowing only 5 runs and eleven hits for 8 innings.
“To start off I was struggling, but somewhere around the fourth inning I started focusing up and got my passion to win,” said Rodarte. “I wanted to help my team get the win.”
The Cougars who took the lead early in the game were unable to keep the score where it was, as the Brahmas offense kicked into gear in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI single by Travis Forbes and an RBI triple by David Whetstone.
In the bottom of the fourth inning the Brahmas took the lead with excellent batting performances from Christian Ornelas, Forbes, and Rodarte that combined for 4 RBIs in the inning.
“We jumped out early, but they stayed with it and didn’t get down and scored 8 runs in the middle innings,” said COC Head Coach Chris Cota. “This was the game that both teams needed to win and unfortunately we didn’t.”
It looked like the Cougars were going to get some momentum going in the fifth inning, but only managed to pick up one run and left the bases loaded.
“We fell behind 4-0, but we put up 8 runs in the next three innings because our guys are resilient, they don’t panic, they stay with a good approach and keep battling,” said Pierce College Head Coach John Bushart.
The Brahmas are 12-8 in the WSC and 24-11 overall. They play again tomorrow at home against Glendale College.
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Pierce infielder Justin Fredlander slides into second base as a Canyon player lands (Louie Heredia / Roundup)
