Cochise outlasts Arizona Western in three-game thriller to advance to ACCAC Regional Championship

This past Thursday, May 5, the Cochise College baseball team began a three-game series with Arizona Western to kick off the first round of the ACCAC Regional playoffs. Each game of the series was a hard-fought battle by both teams, with two separate games going to extra innings of the three. There were walk-off grand slams, timely hitting and a roller coaster of momentum throughout the series for both squads. Cochise came out victorious after the three games and landed themselves a spot in the Regional Championship game against Central Arizona this coming Thursday.

In the first game against Arizona Western, Cochise would begin the series with a dramatic walk-off grand slam to cap off a thriller! The Apaches turned the ball over to Sophomore RHP Treyjen Meza for the key game one start. Meza allowed eight hits over six innings of work, allowing five runs. Cochise got the scoring started in the second inning when they pushed two runs across thanks to an RBI ground ball by Gerardo Hernandez and a passed ball that scored Dylan Bradford. Meza gave the Apaches three clean zeroes over the first third of the game, but Western jumped on the board and tied the game in the top of the fourth.

Cochise would answer back with four more in the bottom half of the fourth inning, scoring 6-2. The Apaches manufactured runs with a walk that scored a run, a single by Caskenette, a sac fly by Eduarny Martinez and an error committed by Arizona Western. Bradford added another run on a double in the fifth's bottom half, extending the lead to 7-2. Arizona Western closed the top of the fifth gap when a bases-loaded popup fell in shallow right field, scoring three runs. The Apaches' offense went quiet for a few innings, and Arizona Western was able to chip away and tied the game up in the top of the eighth inning. Although the offense didn't push any more runs across, the bullpen fought never to give up the lead through nine innings. In the top of the tenth inning, Arizona Western led the inning off with an opposite-field home run putting them on top. Freshman RHP Mathias LaCombe entered the game from the bullpen and shut it down to keep the deficit at one run. Leobardo Melendez led the inning off with a single in the bottom of the tenth, followed by a hard line drive for an out. Ochoa battled and hit a single up the middle to flip the lineup. Sophomore outfielder Gerardo Hernandez attacked the first pitch and hit a hard ground ball. The first baseman couldn't handle the loaded bases to bring up Caskenette. On a 1-0 count Caskenette ambushed the next pitch for a walk-off grand slam giving the Apaches an 11-8 victory in game one!

The next day Cochise suited it back up for a chance to end the series on Friday, May 6. The Apaches were led on the mound by Freshman LHP Evan Shaw. Shaw was impressive for the Apaches, going a strong nine innings, allowing four runs and striking out thirteen hitters. After four innings, the game was at a standstill at 0-0 as both pitchers shut down the offenses. AZ Western got the scoring started in the top half of the fifth, pushing three across, making it 3-0. Cochise responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the fifth, closing the gap to 3-1 on a sac fly by Caskenette. In the bottom half of the seventh, Cochise got the inning started with a two-out double by Ochoa, who later scored on the RBI single by Caskenette. In the top of the eighth inning, Western hit a solo jack to make the score 4-2. The Apaches entered the bottom of the ninth down two runs with their last at-bats coming up. Dylan Bradford led the inning off with a walk, but two quick strikeouts followed. Lead-off hitter Gerardo Hernandez hit a single advancing Bradford to third. Caskenette continued to be a clutch for Cochise as he ripped a two-run double in the right-center gap to tie the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, AZ Western scored on an error in the top of the tenth inning and would hold on to the lead after the bottom of the tenth. Cochise would find themselves on the wrong end of a 5-4 ball game, but Shaw's gutsy playoff performance allowed the bullpen to get some rest for game three, the concluding game of the series.

The Cochise Apaches found themselves in a game three elimination game for both teams on Saturday, May 7. After the first two games, both went ten innings. Cochise looked for a strong start from Freshman RHP Jose Velazquez. Velazquez was all that and more for the Apaches as he could contain the Matador's offense, only allowing three runs over five and third innings. AZ Western would draw blood first with a first-inning home run, but Cochise responded in the bottom half with one of their own after Eduarny Martinez singled for an RBI.

In the bottom of the second inning, Makai DeSoto hit a sacrifice fly to put the Apaches up 2-1. DeSoto also smoked a double in the gap to score Bradford, who also doubled in the inning. Ochoa scored DeSoto with a single and made the game 4-1 for the Apaches. Arizona Western chipped away with a run of their own in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 4-2 and then added another in the top of the sixth inning, cutting the lead to one. The game came to a standstill for a couple of innings as the score remained 4-3 Cochise until Caskenette came up with yet another clutch hit. Caskenette hit a double to deep center for another RBI to extend Cochise's lead. After AZ Western intentionally walked Eduarny Martinez to load the bases, Aaron Marsh hit a two-run single to plate two more Apache baserunners. Freshman outfielder Leobardo Melendez hit an RBI infield single to make the lead five, Apaches leading 8-3. The big four-run eighth inning was all Cochise needed as Marco Ozuna closed the game out like he has been doing all year. Ozuna earned his country-leading fourteenth save, which is also a new record for the Cochise baseball program.

Cochise battled all series long and is heading to its first regional championship game since 2016.

"I am very proud of our guys. It's hard to win a playoff series in the ACCAC," said Head Coach Todd Inglehart had this to say about his team afterward. "Not only winning an elimination game but playing our best in that atmosphere says a lot about how tough they are. We are playing our best baseball at the right time."

Cochise baseball will take off this Wednesday and get ready for another three-game series at Central Arizona. The ACCAC regional championship game starts Thursday, May 12.