Cougars Power Past Grossmont 14-7, Trilogy Game Set for Saturday

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

CHULA VISTA — College of the Canyons avenged its loss from the day before with a convincing 14-7 victory over Grossmont College on day two of the CCCAA Southern California Super Regional to keep its postseason hopes alive and set up a third contest vs. the Griffins on Saturday.

Canyons (26-17) posted a 1-1 record during Thursday's opening games first falling 8-7 vs. Grossmont in the Super Regional opener then bouncing back to take down Southwestern College 6-5 in the afternoon affair. On Friday, it was Grossmont and Southwestern in the first game with the Griffins able to get a wild 18-12 victory and eliminate the tourney host Jaguars. That outcome set up a Friday afternoon rematch between Grossmont and Canyons with the Cougars facing elimination in the double-elimination tourney.

The two sides played a scoreless first two innings before COC got on the board first with a bases loaded walk from Jake Schwartz. Later in the inning Alex Sepulveda singled home a pair of runs and the Cougars were off and running at 3-0.

Grossmont (24-18) brought in two runs in the fourth to tighten things up again at 3-2. But in a trend that would continue throughout the game COC answered right back.

Ryan Camacho doubled home Colin Yeaman to start the scoring in the fifth ahead of Dane Flashberg's two-run single that put the lead back at 5-2 for Canyons.

COC sophomore Brooks Snyder was strong throughout his six innings vs. the Griffins and tied his season-high with eight strikeouts in collecting the win. Snyder (6-4) scattered seven hits alongside four walks and was charged with three runs.

Canyons did its biggest damage in the seventh with a five-run output that put the Cougars in control the rest of the way. Flashberg recorded another RBI single, this time plating two runs to put the game at 7-3. Elsewhere it was run-scoring hits from Andy Ambriz, Andrew Allanson and Yeaman to establish a stranglehold at 10-3.

Grossmont put together a four-run rally of its own in the seventh that was aided by a pair of COC fielding errors. That output brought the game to 10-7 and no doubt evoked some memories of the previous day when the Cougars saw a five-run lead slip away in the ninth inning.

But that wouldn't be the case on Friday. COC reliever Harish Balachondron was able to shut down the Griffins' rally for the final out in the seventh then went on to blank Grossmont across the final two innings, allowing just one hit in the process.

Canyons added some insurance with a two-run triple from Ambriz in the eighth and a Ryan Camacho run-scoring base hit in the ninth. COC's final run came on a wild pitch for a 14-7 final score.

Grossmont starter Ethan Heider took the loss as the first of five pitchers called on by the Griffins. Heider (7-3) allowed four runs on six hits and five walks in his four innings. From there the Grossmont bullpen surrendered 10 runs the rest of the way.

Canyons recorded 18 hits in the game and has now scored 27 runs across the first three games of the tournament. Friday's two contests at Southwestern saw a combined 51 runs between the three participating programs.

Top Performers

• Andy Ambriz — 2-for-4, 2 BB, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI
• Harish Balachondron — 2 2/3 IP, H, K
• Jovan Camacho — 2-for-4, BB, 3 R, SB
• Dane Flashberg — 2-for-4, 2 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
• Brooks Snyder — W (6-4), 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 K
• Colin Yeaman — 3-for-5, BB, 2 R, RBI

Upcoming Schedule

Canyons and Grossmont will complete the trilogy with a win or go home matchup to decide which program advances to the CCCAA Southern California Regional Finals next weekend.

First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday, May 13 from Southwestern College in Chula Vista. 

Saturday's other Southern California Super Regional matchups include:

• L.A. Valley (2-0) vs. Fullerton (1-1) – 11 a.m., Fullerton
• Cypress (1-1) vs. Santa Ana (2-0) – 12 p.m., Santa Ana
• El Camino (1-1) vs. Saddleback (2-0) – 12 p.m., Mission Viejo

*records denote series standings

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.