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![[Baseball] Poncedeleon 2nd Charger to take the next level](/images/setup/default-thumbnail.png)
The Chargers baseball season has come to a close just short of a trip to the CA final-four tournament.
Following a 3-0 loss to Orange Coast College on Friday, the Chargers were eliminated with a 5-4 loss to Glendale today.
Congratulations to the players, coaches and athletics staff on another successful season.
Cypress meets Orange Coast College at 11 a.m. Friday May 11 at Orange Coast College.
If Cypress wins they will play Saturday at 11 a.m against the winner of game two. If Cypress loses, they will play the loser of game two at 10 a.m. Saturday at Golden West College in Huntington Beach.
The Chargers traveled to San Luis Obispo this past weekend for the first round of Regional action. Cypress swept Cuesta two games to none allowing the Chargers to advance to the Four-Team Super Regional this coming weekend at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.
Cypress will face off against the top seeded Pirates in the opening round at 11am on Friday. If the Chargers win, they will play Saturday at 11am against the winner of game two. If Cypress loses, they will play the loser of game two on Saturday at 10am at Golden West College in Huntington Beach.
The Super Regional Tournament is a Four-Team double elimination tournament in which the winner advances to the State Tournament. Mt. Sac, Glendale, Orange Coast, and Cypress have all made it this far, and none of the teams show any signs of slowing down.
Sophomore catcher Brad Hartong was named to the 2012 All-Orange Empire Conference Baseball Team. Four of his teammates earned ?Second Team? selections: pithers Daniel Poncedeleon and Darren Gidley; utility player John Torres; and infielder Robert Chauarria.
Chargers put on their best hitting performance of the season today against the visiting Golden West Rustlers.
BOX SCORE
Cypress, Calif. - If there was such a thing as a picture perfect swing, Rowan Wick of Cypress College had it today. He went 4 for 4 with a two run opposite field bomb in the sixth inning to help the Chargers cruise into there fifth Orange Empire Conference victory. Cypress (11-19, 5-11) defeated Golden West (18-15-1, 9-10) 10 to 5 keeping there slim chance at the playoffs alive.
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| Rowan Wick |
Rowan Wick may have led the offensive charge, but Dylan Fitzgerald, Parker Starr, and Dylan Moore were not too far behind. As a team, the Chargers reached base safely on seventeen hits. Fitzgerald and Starr came together with a combined three RBI's while Moore added two hits to the surge.
The Chargers will finish up the series against the Rustlers tomorrow at Golden West. Cypress is in a must win scenario for the playoffs to even come down to a coin flip.
For the second game in a row, Cypress only managed to score two runs against the Gauchos.
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| Alon Leichman |
Robert Chavarria blasted a solo shot over the left field wall in the top of the sixth to give Cypress one of its runs, while Dylan Fitzgerald scored from third on a wild pitch after tripling to the wall in centerfield. Pierce Bily, Chavaria and Brad Hartong all had two-hit afternoons.
Saddleback's Lee Casas drove in three runs on 3 of 4 hitting and a runs scored. Gaucho leadoff man Ryan Forkel made the most of his one hit in five at bats by scoring twice, and driving in three runs as well.
Cypress starter Stephn Derr left the game in the sixth after allowing four runs on four hits, with three strikeouts. Alon Leichman, Bryson Kauhaahaa, Kyle Ferramola and Releigh Rushing all came out of the pen for the Chargers.
Cypress will hit the road Saturday afternoon, to take on Santa College in the second meeting of the two squads this season. On Tuesday at 2 p.m., Cypress will host the Dons in the final regular season matchup between the two teams.
Six run inning Cypress is too much to overcome in a 7-2 loss at Saddleback.
BOX SCORE
Pierce Bily turned in a solid performance for the Chargers (19-10, 6-8) with a 3 for 4 day at the plate with one RBI and a run scored. Brad Hartong was 2 for 4, while Dylan Fitzgerald, Jake Clark, Parker Starr and Alex Newman each chipped in with a hit apiece. Newman scored the Chargers other run on the afternoon.
Cypress starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon cruised through six innings by only giving up one run to the Gauchos, but a rocky seventh chased him from the game with one out in the inning. Ricky Schafer allowed the other three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Chargers got on the board first in the top of third when Newman hit a single, moved to second on a ground out, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a Saddleback error to make it a 1-0 ballgame.
In the bottom of the inning Saddleback tied the game at 1-1, but Cypress went back ahead in the top of the fifth inning on a solo homer by Biley that made the score 2-1.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh when Saddleback broke the game open with a six-run at-bat, and take a 7-2 lead. Cypress wasn't able to score again in its final two at bats.
The Chargers return home to play the Gauchos in a tiebreaking third and final time this season.
The Chargers won three straight in Fresno with wins over Cuesta, Canyons and host Fresno City.
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| Brad Hartong |
- vs. Cuesta | vs. Canyons (coming) | vs. Fresno
After not hitting like they did for most of the year over the past few games, the Chargers got back to winning with a 2-0 victory over Cuesta in their first game of the week, a 13-2 pounding of College of the Canyons in their second matchup, and a tight 4-3 decision over host Fresno City College in their final game of the road trip.
CYPRESS 2, CUESTA 0
Daniel Poncedeleon was untouchable in five-hit, seven-inning scoreless outing that earned him an impressive victory over one of the state's top teams, Cuesta College. Darren Gidley got his seventh save of the season in two innings of work.
Rowan Wick's solo homer, and a run batted in by Starr accounted for the only two runs of the game.
CYPRESS 13, CANYONS 2
Cypress put it on Canyons with a 13-2 rout, before closing out the week with a hard-fought one-run victory over Fresno.
CYPRESS 4, FRESNO CITY 3
Despite getting outhit 14-5 by Fresno City, Cypress made the most of its opportunities by scoring four runs on five hits in a 4-3 non-conference victory.
Brad Hartong was responsible for two of those hits, as well as two runs scored. Alex Newmann had the only RBI for Cypress in the game, while Dylan Moore and Jake MacWilliams each scored once in the game.
Ricky Schafer scored his fourth win of the year with a solid performance out of the bullpen, and Darren Gidley shut Fresno down in the ninth to notch his eighth of the year.
Cypress returns home on Thursday, April 12 to get back into Orange Empire Conference play when they host Saddleback College at 2 p.m.
Five Chargers finish with two hits apiece in win over Irvine Valley.
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| Zach Alofaituli |
Charger starting pitcher, Stepen Derr (2-0) had the Lasers guessing all day by giving up just three hits and one run in six innings of work. Darren Gidley earned his sixth save of the year in a two-run, three inning effort out of the pen.
Robert Chavarria, Jonathan Torres, Brad Hartong, Zach Alofaituli, and Parker Starr each finished with a pair of hits against Irvine Valley. Starr and Hartong both drove in two runs, while Chavarria and Torress had Cypress' other two RBI.
Anthony Razo, Brad Hartong, Chavarria and Alofaituli each scored two times in the game. Mike Marcoux and Dylan Moore were the other two Chargers to cross the plate against IVC.
Cypress broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth when Moore and Razo scored on a single to right by Chavarria to make it a 2-0 game. Torres drove in Chavarria to stretch Cypress' lead to three runs.
The Chargers would add a run in the sixth when Alofaituli scored, and another in the eighth after Hartong came in to score and make it a 5-1 game.
In the top of the ninth inning, Cypress busted the game wide open with a five-run rally that put the game out of reach for IVC.
Razo scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch, then Hartong doubled in Marcoux and Chavarria to give Cypress an 8-1 lead over the Lasers. Hartong would come around to score the fourth run of the inning, and Alofaituli scored the Chargers final run of the day on an RBI double by Starr that made it a 10-1 game at the time.
Irvine Valley added a couple meaningless runs in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 10-3 final.
Cypress hits the road for Spring Break when they head north to play at Fresno. The Chargers will return home on Thursday, April 12 when they Saddleback College in an Orange Empire Conference matchup.
Early hole costs Chargers in loss to Lasers.
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| Robert Chavarria |
Six Chargers (15-9, 5-7) finished with two hits against the Lasers (10-15, 4-8), but it wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit. Anthony Razo, Robert Chavarria, Jonathan Torres, Rowan Wick, Jake Clark and Parker Starr paced a Charger offense that posted 14 hits on the day. Cypress finished with five more hits on the day than IVC, but the Lasers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one and a half innings and held onto that lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when Wick doubled in Torres and Chavarria to make it a 4-2 game.
Irvine Valley would answer back with three runs in the top of the seventh to stretch its lead to 7-2, but the Chargers Cypress countered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to return it to a two-run game. Razo drove in Starr for the Chargers first run of the inning, then Chavarria hit a bases-clearing double down the line in left to send Razo and Pierce Bily in to score, and cutting the Lasers lead to 7-5.
That was the closest the game would get as Irvine Valley held on for the 7-5 OEC victory on the road.
Rown Wick goes yard in Cypress' first loss of season to Riverside Community College.
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| Rowan Wick |
Cypress starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon (2-2) picked up the loss after allowing three runs (all unearned) on four hits in six innings on the hill. Poncedeleon struck out a game-high seven Tigers and walked four.
The Chargers Tiger counterpart, Blake Burrell (4-0) nearly went the distance, but couldn't retire the Chargers in the ninth inning. Burrell would eventually got the victory after allowing two runs (both earned) in 8.1 innings. He struck out five, allowed six hits and walked six. Joe Molina came in to close out the ninth inning for Riverside and earn his second save of the season.
Riverside scored three times in the top of the third to go up 3-0 in the game. In the bottom half of the inning, Cypress got one run back when Parker Starr singled and stole second base to get in scoring position. Starr would come around to score on a base hit by Robert Chavarria that made it a 3-1 contest after three innings in the books.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh to stretch their lead to 5-1 over Cypress. Heading into the bottom of the ninth the score stayed that way until Rowan Wick blasted a pinch-hit homerun over the right field wall off of Riverside's Burrell to get the Chargers back to withing three runs at 5-2. Wick's homer got out of the stadium so quickly, it took the fans a couple of second to realize what just happened.
That was it for the scoring as the Tigers were able to hold on for the 5-2 OEC victory over Cypress College.
The Chargers will host Irvine Valley at 2 p.m. on Thursday in the second meeting of the season between the two squads.
Josh Anderson picks up fourth win of year; Pierce Bily drives in two runs in Chargers 4-1 victory.
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| Josh Anderson |
The Chargers (15-7, 5-5) improved to .500 on the year in Orange Empire Conference play with their second victory in as many games against Riverside Community College (11-12, 6-4) this year.
Cypress starting pitcher Josh Anderson (4-0) remained undefeated after tossing six innings of shutout ball, while striking out five, and allowing just four hits and three walks. Six other Charger relievers combined to finish out the final three innings of the game.
Cypress outfielder Pierce Bily paced the Charger attack on offense with two RBI against the Tigers. Dylan Moore and Brad Hartong each finished with two hits on the afternoon, while Parker Starr scored twice in the game. Jacob MacWilliam and Trent Zaks accounted for the other two Cypress runs in the game.
Cypress jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second when Trent Zaks singled to lead off the inning, then proceeded to steal second and third, before tagging up and scoring on a sac fly by Bily. Starr walked to get on base, and scored the second run of the inning when he came in from third base on a wild pitch.
The Chargers scored a run in each of the next two innings to take a commanding 4-0 advantage over Riverside.
In the top of the third inning, MacWilliam made it a 3-0 game when he scored the second run of the game for Cypress on a wild pitch. In the Chargers next at bat in the top of the fourth inning, Bily hit another RBI sac fly to score Starr and put Cypress ahead 4-0.
The score remained the same for the remainder of the game until RCC put one run on the board in the bottom of the ninth to avoid the shutout at home. The win clinched the season series for Cypress College.
The Chargers return home to finish off their season series against Riverside at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and to host Irvine Valley for the second time this year at 2 p.m. on Thursday.
Chargers let early lead slip away for second straight game against Coast.
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| Jonathan Torres |
Anthony Razo got the Chargers (14-7, 4-5) first inning rally started with a one-out double to right off of Orange Coast (21-2-1, 8-1) starting pitcher Brandon Brennan. Robert Chavarria singled to move Razo over to third, then Jonathan Torres came through with a two-out single to left that brought in Razo for the first run of the game. After moving over to third on the Torres single, Chavarria stole home to put the Chargers up 2-0 after a half-an-inning of play.
Cypress starting pitcher Stephen Derr held Coast scoreless for the first three innings until the Pirates made it a 2-1 contest with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. OCC would take a 3-2 lead in the sixth after scoring a pair of runs off of Derr.
The Chargers tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning after Jonathan Torres scored from third base on a wild pitch. Cypress was in good position to regain the lead with a man only 90 feet away and just one out in the inning, but a harmless pop up and ground out ended their hopes for another score.
Orange Coast made the most of its opportunity in the bottom half of the eighth inning by putting two runs on the board to take a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning. The Pirates made that score stand up to earn the season sweep over the Chargers with a 5-3 win at home.
Cypress plays at Riverside on Friday in the second meeting of the year between the two squads.
Cypress led through six innings, but a Orange Coast scored in four straight innings to get the win.
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| Brad Hartong |
The Chargers (14-6, 4-4) threatened to score in the bottom of the first inning, when Jonathan Torres reached on an infield single, then stole second base to give Cypress a runner in scoring position with only one out. The Chargers weren't able to get the run home when the next two hitters went down in order.
Cypress starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon cruised through the first two innings of the game by retiring the first six men he faced in order, but a leadoff double down the right field line in the top of the third by OCC's Bryan Garza put the Pirates in good position to grab the first lead of the game.The next batter was hit by a pitch, and the following batter reached on an infield single that trickled down the line.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, things weren't looking good for the Chargers. That is until Poncedeleon got the OEC's leading hitter, Boog Powell, to pop up for the first out of the inning. Coast's Joel Licon had a chance to bust open a big lead for the Pirates, but his line drive back to the pitcher turned into an inning-ending double play for the Chargers' defense, when Poncedeleon snagged it out of the air for out number two, then raced over to the third base bag to double up Garza who was going on the play.
Heading into the bottom half of the third inning, the game remained scoreless until Brad Hartong (2 for 3, 2 runs) led off with a single to left, then stole second base. Two batters later, Torres (2 for 4, 1 RBI) drove in Hartong with a single to right that gave Cypress a 1-0 advantage through three complete innings.
Neither offense could get much of anything going against the opposing pitcher, but OCC found a way to tie the game up in the top of the sixth when Licon scored on a sac fly to right by Bijan Rademacher that tied the game at 1-1.
The Pirates struck again in the seventh with another run to make it a 2-1 game after Poncedeleon got the first batter of the inning out, then put the next two men on base with the top of the order coming up for the Pirates. With OCC's hot-hitting lefty, Powell, coming to the plate against the right hander, Poncedeleon, a pitching change seemed eminent, but there was no call down to the bullpen this time around. Powell legged out an infield single to third that loaded the bases for Licon, who hit a sac fly to right that broke the 1-1 tie to give Coast a 2-1 lead.
OCC tacked on another run in the top of the eighth inning to go up by two runs. Cypress would answer back with a run in the bottom of the inning to get it back to a one-run affair when Brad Hartong scored his second run of the game after singling through the left side, and advancing to second on a throwing error by Yuhl on a failed pick off attempt to first base. Hartong moved over to third base on a ground out by Torres, then scored easily when Robert Chavarria (2 for 4, 1 RBI) hit a blooper down the right field line that dropped in between OCC's second baseman and right fielder to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
OCC would tack on another run in the ninth inning to regain a two-run edge at 4-2. The Pirates made that lead hold up with a scoreless last at bat by the Chargers that gave Coast the season series.
The two teams will meet again on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Costa Mesa for the final time in league play this year. On Saturday, Cypress travels to Riverside to take on the Tigers for the second time this season at noon.
