SMCC Baseball Competes at Baum Bat Invitational

The South Mountain Community College baseball team went 1-3 over the weekend at the Baum Bat Invitational. Playing at the Spring Training home of the Chicago Cubs, the Cougars picked up a dramatic victory over Phoenix College and also faced tests from a pair of out-of-state rivals.

Through nine games, the Cougars are 3-6 while flashing some offensive potential for the rest of the season. As a team, the Cougars are batting .257 with 18 doubles, seven home runs and 72 runs scored.

Individually, freshman Holden Breeze leads the team with a .429 batting average and 12 runs while adding two home runs, seven RBIs and a double. Fellow rookie Dustin Bermudez is second on the team at .348 with a team-high four doubles. A third rookie, Jake Haze, checks in at .333 with three doubles and four RBIs while yet another freshman, Ricky Munoz, leads the squad with 11 RBIs to go with two home runs.

Salt Lake CC Recap

The South Mountain Community College baseball team lost 10-4 to Salt Lake City Community College, wrapping up a five-game season series with the Bruins. The Cougars held a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth inning, but SLCC scored eight runs over the final two frames to secure the victory.

Sophomore Ricky Munoz hit a three-run home run. Freshman Dustin Bermudez finished 2 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI, and sophomore Efrain Cervantes added a double in the loss.

After SLCC scored a run in the top of the first, SMCC responded with a four-run second inning. Jake Haze drew a walk to start the inning, and with two outs, a pitch hit sophomore Brady Welch. That brought Munoz to the plate, and he promptly disposed of a ball over the wall in left field.

However, SLCC would score a run in the fourth, three in the eighth and five in the ninth to win the season series with SMCC.

Sophomore Jake Sansing started the game for SMCC, tossing four innings with five strikeouts and one earned run. Parker Wakelyn, Carter Krosky, Derek Decolati, Damien Hernandez, Trey Goodrich and Matt Bohnert all saw time on the hill for the Cougars.

BAUM BAT Invitational

New Mexico JC Recap

The South Mountain Community College lost its first game of the Baum Bat Invitational, falling 10-3 to New Mexico Junior College at Sloan Park. Freshman Holden Breeze went 2 for 3 with two runs and two walks while sophomore Efrain Cervantes went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, but New Mexico JC struck for five runs across the first two innings to take a lead they would not relinquish.

Brayden Brooks started the game for the Cougars. He allowed three earned runs with five strikeouts in three innings of work to take the loss. TJ Czyz tossed three innings of relief work, scattering one hit and one run with three strikeouts. Matt Bohnert and Israel Gutierrez also saw time on the hill in the game for South Mountain Community College.

Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the third, Breeze drew a one-out walk. He moved to second on a walk from JD Wadleigh and then advanced to third on a flyout. Taking that extra 90 feet allowed him to score on a Justin Quinn single.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cervantes roped a triple to right that scored Jake Haze and Breeze. Noah Bachman recorded a double, and the Cougars turned three double plays on defense in the loss.

Phoenix College Recap

The South Mountain Community College baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 3-3 deadlock and defeat Phoenix College 7-4 Friday as part of the Baum Bat Invitational at Sloane Park.

Holden Breeze delivered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give SMCC a 5-3 lead. Jake Haze then blasted a two-run double to center to extend the advantage to four. Dustin Bermudez started the rally with a one-out single, and walks from Noah Bachman and Connor Watson set the stage for Breeze and Haze.

South Mountain Community College jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.

In the third, Breeze scored on a Justin Quinn sacrifice fly. The Cougars punched two across in the fifth on a two-out rally. Haze started things with a single and then scored on an RBI double from Justin Quinn. He then scored on an RBI single from Ricky Munoz.

Phoenix College scored twice in the seventh and once in the eighth to set up the late dramatics.

Shawn Triplett earned the win in relief, tossing 1.2 innings with one strikeout. Jack Radford started for the Cougars. He went 6.0 innings, striking out five and scattering five hits with no runs.

Breeze finished 2 for 4 with two runs, two RBIs and a walk. Bermudez had two doubles and a run scored, and Quinn also had two doubles to go with two RBIs and a run scored. Haze went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and run. Bachman, Bermudez and Ricky Munoz each had a stolen base in the win.

Gateway Recap

In the finale of the Baum Bat Invitational, the South Mountain Community College baseball team lost 8-4 to Gateway Community College on Feb. 9. Dustin Bermudez and Jake Haze each had two hits for the Cougars, who could not overcome an early 4-0 deficit.

Gateway CC jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second. From there, the Cougars would go about chipping away at the deficit by scoring single runs in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh.

In the third, Justin Quinn delivered a sac fly that scored Holden Breeze. Haze recorded an RBI double in the top of the fifth, scoring Quinn with two outs.

Breeze recorded the team's second sac fly of the game in the sixth, scoring Derek Decolati with a fly ball to right.  Noah Bachman had team's final RBI of the day, delivering a double to left that scored Haze in the seventh.

Brendan Anderson started the game for SMCC, allowing 11 hits and five earned runs to go with four K's in 4.2 innings of work. Parker Wakelyn and Bermudez saw time in relief for the Cougars.