Cochise baseball secures #2 spot in ACCAC with split against South Mountain

The Cochise College baseball team traveled to Phoenix to play South Mountain Community College over the weekend on Saturday, April 13.

Cochise clinched the #2 seed in the ACCAC with the win in game two and a split on the day.

In the first game, Freshman RHP Fernando Barreda got the start. Barreda lasted one and two-thirds innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out one and walking zero. Martin Miranda, Mathias LaCombe, Ismail Pontiac, and Angel Ortiz each entered the game as relievers. Cochise trailed early and never gained enough momentum to push runs across and catch South Mountain. Cochise made it close after Damian Garcia went yard in the sixth inning, making the score 5-4. The Apaches let up three of their own in the bottom half as they watched the lead for South stretch to four, making it 8-4. Cochise tallied eight hits on the day. Gerardo Hernandez, Garcia, and Connor Caskenette all managed multiple hits for the Apaches. Cochise dropped game one 8-4.

Cochise watched a large lead in the last inning shrink from ten to two in the second game and managed to hold off South Mountain for an 11-9 victory on Saturday. The victory secured Cochise as the #2 seed in the ACCAC playoffs.

Cochise turned the ball over to Freshman LHP Evan Shaw for the start. Shaw allowed two hits and one run over five innings, striking out seven and walking one. Shaw has been resilient on the mound the last month for the Apaches, and Saturday was no different. Cochise got things started in the first inning when Gerardo Hernandez tripled and then scored on a throwing error by the left fielder. Cochise notched three more runs in the third inning thanks to a single by Hernandez, a ground out by Caskenette and a throwing error on the catcher-scored Hernandez, who was stealing third.

Cochise continued to apply pressure throughout the game, scoring in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth inning. Cochise extended the lead and scored three more runs in the ninth inning. Aaron Marsh and Austin Gurney drove in runs in the frame, making the score 11-1. South didn't give in the last inning and pushed eight runs across, making it an exciting ending, but Cochise held on to the 11-9 win. The Apaches collected 13 hits on the day. Hernandez, Damian Garcia, Marsh, and Alan Ochoa collected multiple hits for Cochise on another offensive-heavy day. The Cochise Apaches finished the regular season with a 41-15 overall record and an ACCAC record of 27-11. They will take on Arizona Western at home in the first playoffs this Thursday, May 5.