COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Cypress Rallies in Ninth to Beat Merced, Advance to Final

Cypress College scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to defeat Merced, 7-5, Saturday and advance to the Cypress baseball tournament final.

In the ninth inning, Cypress (8-1) scored the first run on a bases-loaded walk and the second on a hit by Terry Tewell.

Doug McConathy went two for three and scored a run and Tom Puppe was one for two with two runs batted in. Pitcher Kevin Ehl (1-0) did not allow a hit in two innings and struck out four for the victory.

Cypress will play host to Golden West in the championship game at 11 a.m. today. Cypress has to win twice to win the tournament.

In another Cypress tournament game:

Golden West 7, Merced 5--Dave Turner (1-1) struck out three, walked three and allowed six hits in 6 1/3 innings for Golden West (4-1).

In the Southwestern baseball tournament:

Rancho Santiago 8, Fullerton College 3--Jeff White hit a two-run homer to highlight a five-run first inning for Rancho Santiago (6-0). Fullerton is 6-1.

In nonconference games:

Saddleback 5-3, Pima 4-5--Buster Nietzke went four for nine on the day with an RBI and two runs scored and Neil Carter went three for five with two RBIs for host Saddleback (3-2).

In Orange Empire Conference women’s basketball:

Orange Coast 89, Riverside 60--Michelle Hennessey had 19 points, 13 assists and eight steals to lead Orange Coast (24-5 overall, 8-2 in conference play). Riverside fell to 17-13, 4-7.

In the championship of the Rancho Santiago softball tournament:

Cypress 3, Chaffey 1--Rose Ferrante and Tricia Barr of Cypress (3-0) hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Laura Corson pitched her second complete-game victory of the tournament and was named tournament MVP.