Cochise Baseball splits double header with Gateway
Douglas, Ariz. --- The Cochise Baseball team was back at home after a couple of road trips, including a road sweep of Glendale Community College last weekend. The Apaches welcomed visiting Gateway Community College on Saturday afternoon for a double header at Bo Hall Field. The Geckos were coming off of a split in which they upset Central Arizona College, who at the time, was ranked #6 in the country for Division 1.
Game 1: Cochise 9, Gateway 1
In Game 1 of the double header, it was all Cochise as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the third inning. The Apaches added two more runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, and three more runs in the sixth to secure a 9-1 route of Gateway. Sophomore infielder Mathis Meurant led the way for Cochise collecting 3 hits with and RBI. Freshmen standouts Richard Gutierrez and Kenneth Rhein also collected multiple hits for the Apaches. Sam Pitts earned the start on the mound for Cochise, pitching 6 and two-thirds innings, surrendering 1 run off of 7 Gateway hits, with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks. Olmedo Quezada made a relief appearance, shutting the door by getting the last out of the first game.
Game 2: Cochise 6, Gateway 7 (10 Innings)
It took extra innings to decided Game 2 at Bo Hall Field, as the Cochise Apaches attempted to come back from a 5-run deficit early on in the game. Gateway came back strong scoring three runs in the top half of the fourth inning off of sophomore reliever Alex Figueroa, who came in for starter Ramses Guerra. The Geckos scored two more in the seventh to take a 5-0 lead over Cochise. The Apaches refused to give up, scoring six runs in the bottom of the seventh to overtake Gateway. The Geckos scored the tying run in the ninth off of Alejandro Vanegas to take the game into extra innings. Gateway scored another run in the tenth inning to eventually take the Game 2 win over Cochise, good enough for a double header split. Sophomore catcher Mason Wray managed to collect three hits in Game 2, while Meurant collected 2 more hits for the Apaches, along with Ruben Villaescusa who had two hits of his own. Kieran Gaffney also had one hit with 2 RBI's.
Up Next...
Cochise Baseball (18-10,8-6) will host Community Christian College (5-6) for a double header on Wednesday, March 13th at noon, and will host South Mountain Community College (12-15,6-8) on Saturday, March 16th for another noon double header.