Canyons Bounces Back but Needs Sweep Today for Title

After coming surprisingly close to elimination, College of the Canyons will make its fifth appearance in six years in the California Community College Baseball Championships’ final.

And the Cougars can thank pitchers Chris Zavatsky and Darrin Beer. Zavatsky, who came into the state tournament with just two decisions, is now 4-0 for the Cougars. His latest win came Sunday at Blair Field in Long Beach, a 4-1 decision that eliminated Long Beach City from the tournament.

Earlier in the day, Canyons fell to Rancho Santiago, 11-6.

Zavatsky, normally a reliever, pitched seven innings and gave up one run in the win over Long Beach (26-14). Beer, who was hammered by Rancho Santiago, relieved Zavatsky and retired five of the seven batters he faced.

Canyons (39-6) plays Rancho Santiago (34-7) today at 10 a.m. at Blair Field to determine the state championship. Because Canyons has one loss and Rancho Santiago is undefeated in the tournament, the Cougars must sweep a doubleheader from the Dons to win their third state championship.

Canyons got 11 hits against Long Beach, and Scott Drury, Pete Kuld, Don Erickson, Bob Clark and Chris Cota each made stellar defensive plays that made up for Canyons’ miserable defense in the first game.

Canyons got three hits from second baseman Vic Sotelo, two hits from catcher Kuld and a squeeze bunt from Alex Vasquez. Vasquez’ bunt scored Kuld for the Cougars’ fourth and final run.

“We played real well,” Canyons Coach Mike Gillespie said. “At least we didn’t give away any runs like we did in the first game. It was a good win, a real dogfight. But our pitchers both did a great job.”

Said Beer: “This is a great feeling. I just can’t describe it. I sure feel a lot better than I did after the first game. And Zavatsky deserves a lot of credit. He deserves everything. He did a great job for us.”

For Canyons, the first game was brutal. Unlike the first two tournament games, its third game--against fourth-seeded Rancho Santiago--was a nightmarish jumble of errors, stranded baserunners and botched plays. The defeat ended an 11-game winning streak.

The Cougars entered the game with no errors in the tournament, but committed five in the loss, three in the first inning. Canyons was outhit 18-10 as the Dons slapped around three Canyons pitchers to earn a spot in the championship game.

“For us today, the key was getting ahead of them,” Rancho Santiago Coach Don Sneddon said. “It takes them out of their game plan a little bit if you jump ahead and get some runs. We were fortunate enough to do that.

“We have not been a great offensive team all season. Pitching has been our mainstay--that and our defense. The offense has been a welcome surprise. If we put all three together, we can play with anyone, anywhere.”

Two Rancho Santiago pitchers, Chris Shiflett and Wayne Gilles, combined to throw nine strikeouts and strand nine Canyons runners, eight in scoring position.

Dons designated hitter Brent Reese, who had a .178 season batting average, was 4 for 5 with a double and a triple. Only one Rancho Santiago batter was hitless.

Beer, who entered the game with an impressive 13-1 record, gave up six hits and four runs before he was relieved by Charlie Perrault in the fourth inning. Perrault (0-1) took the loss.

“I think the team realizes that we made it too tough on ourselves,” Gillespie said after the first game. We’re a fine team and we have had a fine year, but we have crumbled one or two times before. So, it can happen to any team.”

Regardless, Canyons isn’t any team. The Cougars went into Sunday’s games ranked No. 1 in the Southland Poll by sports information directors and were favored to win a third state championship. This is a team that broke a school record with 72 home runs and mauled Harbor in the Southern regionals.

But the team’s pitching has been questionable since the tournament began Friday. Freshmen Jeff Ward and Zavatsky pitched well enough against Butte Friday that the Cougars were able to hold off the Roadrunners and advance in the winners’ bracket to play Sacramento City. Frank Halcovich (14-0) and 10 runs overwhelmed Sacramento City Saturday.

But it seemed when Beer went stale Sunday, so did the entire Canyons team.

“I pulled him because he was just not throwing well,” Gillespie said. “He couldn’t get his breaking ball in there. He is an experienced guy and he has had a fabulous year so I don’t really think he was intimidated by the situation. But, it was an important game and he may have been a little nervous.”