Mt. SAC Hits Follow Miscue by Canyons

It seemed so insignificant at first. Nothing more than a harmless miscue. A batter safely aboard instead of back on the bench after a routine grounder.

But the play turned College of the Canyons upside down in a 14-10 loss to Mt. San Antonio in a Southern California regional first-round baseball game Friday at Canyons.

The Cougars (25-18) must beat Mt. San Antonio (26-18) twice today in the best-of-three series to reach the second round.

Canyons led, 4-0, in the top of the fourth inning when the Mounties scored nine runs after the error opened the floodgates.

Mt. San Antonio’s Ryan Moore opened the inning with a two-hopper to first baseman Mike Oliver, whose toss to pitcher Chris Baker was low and Baker missed the bag.

Seven hits and two walks later, the Mounties led, 9-4. They sent 13 batters to the plate, and Moore provided one of the key hits with a two-run single.

The liner to center field also chased Baker (5-7), a freshman right-hander and the Cougars’ top pitcher. He worked 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and eight runs, seven of them unearned.

Mt. San Antonio started right-hander Darren Merrill instead of left-handed ace Josh Schuler, who takes a 12-1 record into today’s 11 a.m. game. The move seemed to backfire on Coach Art Mazmanian until the fourth.

“He rolled the dice,” said Len Mohney, Canyons’ coach. “When we were up, 4-0, after three, I thought the dice were rolling my way.”

Merrill was gone by the third, when the Cougars scored three runs, two on Rick Nadeau’s sharp single, to make it 4-0. Reliever Bobby Platt (2-1) worked 6 2/3 innings, leaving with two out in the ninth and the bases loaded.

The Cougars scored four runs in the ninth, all against Platt, but Matt Najera retired Justin Bunch on a foul pop near first to pick up the save.

Platt struck out five and walked seven, four in the ninth.

Mt. San Antonio’s Ryan Annett had three hits, including a two-run home run in the fifth and a two-run double in the seventh.

Nadeau had four runs batted in.