Bible, Riscen Pace Canyons Over Harbor

Defending state champion College of the Canyons, led by catcher Mike Bible and ace left-hander Fred Riscen, rode to a 9-3 victory Saturday over Harbor in the opener of a best-of-three regional playoff.

“I was just trying to hit the ball hard,” Bible said after getting four hits and five runs batted in at Harbor. “It’s not just me. We have a team that can hit with anybody.”

Bible singled and scored the Cougars’ first run on a double by Len Hokanson in the second inning, then hit a three-run homer in the third off starter and loser Dave Haggard (10-2). The home run was Bible’s 13th.

With two outs in the fourth, Canyons (31-7-1) loaded the bases for Bible, bringing Harbor Coach Jim O’Brien to the mound.

“I just told Haggard to pitch around Bible,” said O’Brien. But Haggard’s first pitch bounced in the dirt past catcher Jorge Pedre, scoring Joe Pieper with the fifth Cougar run and advancing baserunners Vic Sotelo and Andy Cutchall. Although first base was open, O’Brien decided not to walk Bible intentionally.

“I hoped Haggard would have pitched him better than he did,” said O’Brien. Indeed, Bible jumped on the next pitch for a two-run single and a 7-0 Canyons lead.

Solo homers by Cutchall (his ninth) and Hokanson (his eighth) made it 9-0 before Harbor (35-9) was finally able to solve Riscen. With one out in the eighth, Will Parsons singled. Harbor’s Kevin Higgins and Pedre--followed with back-to-back home runs.

“The first homer was just a pop-up,” said Riscen, “but the one by Pedre was a bomb. They are a dangerous team that can really hit. But everything was working for me today. I wanted this one bad.”

Riscen (9-3) scattered 9 hits, walked 2 and struck out 9. He outguessed the Harbor hitters all day, demonstrating pinpoint location while mixing his pitches effectively.

“It was a complete team effort,” Cougars Coach Len Mohney said. “Riscen dominated in all but one inning. Considering it came against Harbor, it was his best outing of the year.”