The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team kicked off 3C2A regional playoffs with a dominant offensive showcase with a 16-4 win over American River in game one of the three-game series at home Friday.
The Bear Cubs carried their 18-game winning streak into the regional playoffs thanks to 16 runs on 14 hits. Sophomore pitcher Russell Freedheim opened the game for the Bear Cubs pitching two scoreless innings, while striking out one and allowing three hits.
American River put pressure on Freedheim early in both the first and second innings, putting runners in scoring position, but he escaped both early jams with a strikeout and two consecutive ground balls.
“Those innings were Absolutely huge, because we know we have Giacomini coming in next, and he’s going to shut him down,” assistant coach Tom Francois said.
Sophomore pitcher and University of Nevada commit Jordan Giacomini came in for Freedheim in the third inning and followed with two more shutdown innings in the third and fourth innings.
The Bear Cubs bats got on the scoreboard early in the fourth inning with a small-ball charged rally. Freshman right fielder Ayden Herrguth walked with one out, freshman designated hitter J.T. Summers singled and sophomore first baseman and University of Hawaii commit Josh Martin brought home Herrguth on a single of his own.
Sophomore second baseman Joe Brown followed with the third single of the inning, and freshman left fielder Shane Moran brought home Summers on an RBI sac fly. Freshman shortstop Caze Derammelaere singled for the fourth Bear Cubs single of the inning bringing home Martin. Sophomore catcher Mason Cox followed that with a walk and freshman third baseman Tyler Nordyke was hit by a pitch to bring home Brown giving the Bear Cubs a 4-0 lead.
The Bear Cubs added on to their score in the fifth inning with their second straight two-out rally. Herrguth opened the inning with a walk and immediately stole second. He came around to score on a RBI two-out single by Joe Brown to make the game 5-0.
“You know, we play station-to-station baseball. Get them on, get them over, get them in. And it pays dividends,” Francois said.
American River wouldn’t go down without a fight, putting up two runs in the fifth inning with two walks and two hits making the game 5-2. They continued to chip away at the Bear Cubs lead adding one more run on a two out RBI single in the sixth inning to make the game 5-3.
“[Giacomini] pitched well. It happens, man. Sometimes you catch too much of the zone and they’re going to hit it,” Francois said.
The Bear Cubs answered American River’s rally instantly in the bottom half of the sixth. Herrguth and Summers led off the inning with walks and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Josh Martin followed with the third consecutive walk of the inning. Herrguth scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Shane Moran. Derammelaere followed that up with his second RBI single of the game scoring Summers giving the Bear Cubs a 7-3 lead.
The Bear Cubs continued to pile on with a five spot in the seventh inning, Nordyke led off the inning being hit by a pitch. Herrguth singled and Summers followed up with an RBI line drive single bringing home Nordyke. Martin doubled to bring home Herrguth.
Brown put an exclamation point on the Bear Cubs rally with a bases-clearing RBI triple, bringing home Martin and Summers. Moran brought home Brown with his second sac fly of the game to cap off a 5 run seventh inning making the game 12-3.
“I felt like it was huge. It just put the game away, and let Jordan [Giacomini] go out there and finally do his thing with a comfortable lead,” Brown said.
Brown went 4-for-6 with five RBIs on the day.
American River added one more run on a home run by catcher Eli Campbell, making the game 12-4. Giacomini got the next two outs, finishing the eighth inning.
The Bear Cubs continued to punish American River pitching, putting up four more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Cox was hit by a pitch to open the inning followed by freshman center fielder Cooper Wood and Herrguth both drawing walks. Summers singled to bring home Cox and Wood for his second and third RBI of the game. Martin walked followed by a two RBI single off the bat of Brown bringing home Summers and Herrguth for his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game.
Giacomini took the mound in the ninth inning for his seventh inning of work and slammed the door on a dominant 16-4 Bear Cubs victory. His work included eight strikeouts and gave up three earned runs on five hits.
“It does tons towards my confidence, but I just wanted to win for us. Obviously, going out there and winning for them is a lot better than just winning for myself,” he said.
The Bear Cubs will stay home and look to close out American River in game two tomorrow at 11 a.m. Should the Bear Cubs lose game two, the third game of the 3C2A regionals playoffs will start 30 minutes after the end of the second game.
