CR Baseball takes 2 of 3 from Siskiyous

Written by Andrew Butler - Times Standard

College of the Redwoods baseball played its first home games of the 2018 season on Sunday and today, winning two of three against visiting College of the Siskiyous.

“Anytime you can get a series win, it’s huge,” said Redwoods head coach Brad Morgan. “It’s always good to defend the home field.”

On Sunday, Redwoods (5-7, 8-13) took game one by a score of 9-8 thanks to a 10th inning walk-off homer courtesy of Kyle Wallace, who batted 2-3 in the game as well. Hokeem Sadon started the day on the mound for Redwoods. Sadon had a shaky start, allowing two first inning runs. Sadon however was able to tighten up and, after an inauspicious start, throw a number of scoreless innings before retiring for the day. Peyten Ballew was credited with the pitching win for Redwoods, recording three strikeouts in the final three innings for Redwoods.

“We’re doing a lot better defensively lately,” Morgan said. “We’re getting better in the phases of the game we need to improve in.”

Redwoods ran away with the first game of today’s double-header, beating Siskiyous 11-1. Kyle Oshiro pitched seven strong innings for Redwoods in the win. Oshiro allowed just four hits and one run while recording six strikeouts of his own. Koko Figueirido was good for a home run and Jacob Bauer sent home a couple, notching two RBI’s on the day.

“We brought the bats out this weekend,” Morgan said. “The last couple of weeks we haven’t hit as well as we can.”

Siskiyous (5-7, 10-8) avoided the series sweep, winning the second game of today’s double-header 11-10 after 10 innings. Redwoods trailed Siskiyous 10-6 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. A four-run rally made possible by a mix of timely hits and unforced Siskiyous errors brought Redwoods even with Siskiyous, forcing extra innings. Redwoods’ Antonio Carvalho got on base first for Redwoods in the ninth via a walk. The next two Redwoods batters received consecutive strikeouts, leaving the team in desperation mode with two outs. The following four consecutive Redwoods batters all reached base, sending home two runs and leaving the bases loaded for Hunter Jury. Jury hit a double which sent home two including the tying run, leaving the winning run on third. The following Redwoods batter struck out leaving two runners on in scoring position. An inning later Redwoods found themselves down again, and without enough steam to mount another comeback. Leaving runners on was a problem for Redwoods throughout the game, Morgan said.

“There was a lot of times during the game we left runners on base,” Morgan said. “It was the downfall of that game. We gave [Siskiyous] a few too many free pases.”

Redwoods will remain at home this weekend for a three game series against Shasta (4-4, 9-14). Game one will begin at 2 p.m., Friday. The first game of Saturday’s double-header will get underway at noon, and the second at 2 p.m.

“We’re playing much better than we had been earlier this season,” Morgan said. “We’re moving in a better direction.”