Canyons Defeats Cuesta, Pulls Within Half-Game of WSC Lead

With 10 consecutive conference titles, College of the Canyons’ regular-season baseball dominance stretches back nearly to the disco era, but Thursday the team theme could have been “Staying Alive.”

Visiting Cuesta came in leading Canyons by 1 1/2 games, two in the loss column, and could have virtually assured itself of the Western State Conference championship with a victory. Cuesta sent to the mound undefeated right-hander Paul Mayo, a cagey 22-year-old sophomore, to make sure the Cougars’ backs stayed closer to the wall than paint.

Canyons, however, hearkened back to past Cougar powerhouse teams with a pair of first-inning home runs, and Roland De La Maza shut down Cuesta in a 3-2 complete-game victory.

As he did last year when he beat Fullerton in an elimination game of the state tournament, De La Maza came through when Canyons needed him.

“I needed them too,” De La Maza said of his teammates. “They played great defense.”

Canyons, which has struggled defensively this season, turned three double plays and made only one error. De La Maza (7-3) struck out six, five in the final four innings, and snapped Cuesta’s eight-game conference winning streak.

Canyons (17-15-1, 12-5 in WSC play), which has three conference games to play, trails Cuesta (25-12, 12-4) by a half-game and needs Cuesta to lose at least one of its four remaining conference games.

“We’re in a lot better shape because we won, but I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Canyons Coach Len Mohney said. “I’m begging for a co-championship.”

Taking advantage of a wind whipping out to left, Canyons hit a pair of first-inning home runs. Bobby Corrales, Canyons’ second batter, reached Mayo first with a solo home run to left. Corrales finished with a single, double and homer.

Three batters later, Scott Roth hitched a ride on the same jet stream and powered a two-run home run to left. Roth’s shot scored Bill Horvat, who had three hits, and gave Canyons a 3-0 lead. As the wind settled down so did Mayo (8-1); he held Canyons scoreless thereafter.

Cuesta chipped into the lead with single runs in the fourth and sixth. De La Maza allowed four baserunners in the final three innings but no runs and ended the game by striking out Levi Funderburk with a runner at third.