The Pierce College Brahmas shut out the West Los Angeles College Wildcats 6-0 Saturday behind Chris Kovach’s complete game shutout. The win improves their record to 9-17 and 6-3 in conference play.
Kovach kept the Wildcats hitless through seven innings, only surrendering two hits and two walks, striking out eight in the game.
“I’m going out there and trying to perform for my team,” Kovach said. “I felt the same way as I do every game.”
“He struggled the last time he pitched. He’s been having some issues early,” head coach Bill Picketts said. “The first inning is always his worst, so we kind of did a little something different in the bullpen today. Whether or not it worked, who knows, but it obviously looked like it worked.”
The offense started early with a hit-and-run RBI double from Deion Fernando scoring Alexis Miranda in the second inning.
In the third, Mike Scolaro singled, and proceeded to steal second and third. Then, on a double steal with Will Picketts, Scolaro stole home.
“Both Picketts and Scolaro are good base-runners,” Bill Picketts said. “We like to take advantage of those situations when we can to create some runs. Sometimes we’re pretty offensive, and sometimes we’re not.”
After a three-run fifth inning the Brahmas had a 6-0 lead.
“When a guy pitches that well, he makes us want to score a lot of runs and get a lot of hits for him,” Will Picketts said.
In the top of the eighth, Kovach surrendered his first hit as Christian Amador of the Wildcats singled.
“A no-hitter was in the back of my mind,” Kovach said. “But I try to not let that affect me. Even if they do get a hit in this situation, I’m not worried about it. I just want to get the win.”
Kovach struck out the next two batters in the eighth to keep the shutout alive.
This is the third time the Brahmas and Wildcats have met, with the Brahmas only surrendering two runs in the three meetings.
“We’ve got a great team. We got a lot of talent,” Kovach said. “These wins make us come together, and if we keep winning, we’ll keep coming together more and more.”
The Brahmas head to West LA on Tuesday to face the Wildcats again.
“I’m sure they’ll try and come out and beat us, we’ve beat them three times already,” Will Picketts said. “We’ve just got to keep playing. We’re pitching pretty well against them and hitting well against them, so we’ve just to keep it going.”
Adrian Rodriguez is scheduled to start on the mound for Pierce Tuesday.
“We need to get on a little bit of a run,” Bill Picketts said. “I mean, two of our starters are good, and have been really solid all year. Rodriguez was solid last game, so let’s see if he carries it over.”
First pitch at West LA is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
