JC Baseball: Cypress upends Pirates
CYPRESS — Good pitching beats good hitting … until some hitters get a reprieve.
Host Cypress College delved into the bullpen first in a battle of Orange Empire Conference aces on Tuesday, and the Chargers took advantage to rally for a 2-1 victory over Orange Coast College.
OCC sophomore left-hander Kyle Robeniol struck out eight and allowed four hits in eight shutout innings, but exited having thrown 118 pitches.
But Cypress sophomore Andrew Quezada threw a complete game and was rewarded with his sixth win in seven decisions.
The Chargers (17-6, 4-3 in conference) had four hits and an intentional walk in the ninth to earn their fourth walk-off win of the season, the third in their last three conference triumphs.
Cypress, ranked No. 6 in the state and No. 4 in Southern California, are now 6-1 in one-run games, 9-1 in games decided by two or fewer runs.
OCC (19-3, 6-1), ranked No. 1 in the state, had its second nine-game winning streak of the season snapped.
OCC sophomore Ryan Randel, who came in 3-0, was four for four in save situations and had allowed one run and four hits in his previous eight outings, spanning 10 innings, failed to get an out in the ninth to absorb the loss.
“Randel was up in the zone and they capitalized on it,” OCC Coach John Altobelli said. “You have to tip your cap to [the Chargers]. We need to flush it and move on to Game 2 [of the three-game series on Thursday at OCC].
“[Robeniol] did a great job,” Altobelli said. “He kept them off-balance and kept the ball down. He did everything we asked for and he gave us all he could. But the tank was empty [after his longest outing of the season], so that’s why we went to Randel, who has been the [closer] for us all season.”
Not a lot happened offensively, until the ninth, with both starters dealing and both defenses negating opportunities.
OCC had only two runners get past first base in the first eight innings, two of which were thrown out at the plate.
The Pirates, who had their leadoff hitter reach base in five of the first seven innings, broke through in the sixth, when sophomore second baseman J.T. Navarro singled to open the frame, reached second on a one-out groundout and came home on sophomore catcher Robert Teel’s single up the middle.
Teel singled again with two outs in the eighth, but sophomore first baseman Eric Wagaman, who doubled for his second hit to set the table, was thrown out by the center fielder Cory Wildhagen.
Wildhagen charged Teel’s hard grounder up the middle and threw a one-hopper to catcher Chase Sebby, who fielded the throw, while drifting into the baseline. Wagaman’s progress toward the plate was interrupted by Sebby’s shin guard and Wagaman was tagged before he toppled over the catcher onto the plate.
“It was obstruction,” Altobelli said. “The catcher is out there trying to get the ball, which I get, but our guy still has to get to the plate. They are trying to eliminate the collisions, and that’s how a catcher gets plowed. But our guy needs to get around that by sliding wide.”
Robeniol [4-0 with one save], a bounce-back from Oregon whose earned-run average dipped from 2.21 to 1.85 and who now ranks fifth in the state with 51 strikeouts (in 48 2/3 innings), struck out Garrett Calvert with a runner on third and two outs in the fourth.
In the sixth, Sebby singled and, on a third strike to Wildhagen, stopped in the baseline after breaking for second. Teel threw accurately to Navarro covering second, but Navarro’s throw to first to try to get Sebby skipped into the dugout for a two-base error.
With the infield in, sophomore shortstop Travis Moniot fielded Willie Aguilar’s subsequent grounder and threw to the plate, where Sebby was tagged out in a rundown that allowed Aguilar to reach second.
Robeniol promptly picked off Aguilar at second to end the threat.
Pinch-hitter Tyler Smith greeted Randel with a single and Wildhagen chopped a double over the third baseman. Aguilar was intentionally walked to load the bases and Pierson Loska and Brandan Alamo both delivered line-drive singles to drive in runs.
Quezada, whose 0.47 ERA leads the state, struck out six while allowing a season-worst nine hits.
Orange Empire Conference
Cypress 2, Orange Coast 1
SCORE BY INNINGS
OCC 000 001 000 – 1 9 1
Cyp 000 000 002 – 2 8 0
Robeniol, Randel (9) and Teel, Ceballos (9); Quezada and Sebby. W – Quezada, 6-1. L – Randel, 3-1. 2B – Wagaman (OCC), Hussung (OCC), Wildhagen (C).
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
