The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team improved to 3-2 with a 7-4 win over College of Marin on Jan. 31, powered by a dominant outing from pitcher Lucas Hermes.
After a 9-0 shutout win over Marin on Jan. 30, the Bear Cubs carried that momentum into Saturday with strong pitching and early offense.
Hermes earned the win after striking out eight, walking none and allowing just four baserunners over six innings. He retired the first nine batters he faced and did not allow a run.
“Attack the batters, get ahead early, get first-pitch strikes,” Hermes said of his approach. “Be a wolf, be dominant, get the win.”
Hermes’ rhythm never wavered after surrendering his first hit, and he finished his day with six shutout innings.
Assistant coach Tom Francois praised Hermes’ efficiency and control.
“I can’t say enough about him,” Francois said. “The thing I love about this win — no base on balls. I tell our guys we can’t defend that. I’d rather see a guy hit a waist-side shot over the foul pole than give up a walk.”
Santa Rosa jumped ahead early, scoring seven runs across the first four innings.
The Bear Cubs opened the scoring in the first inning when first baseman Vero Poueu drove in third baseman Caze Derammelaere with a sacrifice bunt after Derammelaere drew a leadoff walk.
Center fielder Cooper Wood set the tone in the third with a double and later scored from third base on an illegal pitch by Marin.
“My approach is to hit the ball hard,” Wood said. “I’m not picky where it ends, as long as I’m setting up the guys behind me as well.”
Second baseman Trevor Schlafer advanced to third on a wild pitch, and designated hitter J.T. Summers brought him home with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-0.
Santa Rosa broke the game open in the fourth with four more runs. Schlafer reached base and scored on an errant throw by Marin’s shortstop, which allowed Wood and catcher R.J. Johnson to score. Shortstop Brett Neidlinger followed with an RBI triple to right field, and Derammelaere added an RBI single to make it 7-0.
The Bear Cubs’ offense went quiet after the fourth inning, but the early cushion proved enough.
Pitcher Aaron Davainis ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing four runs to bring Marin back into contention, though he finished the inning. Pitcher Elijah Hackathorn closed the game in the ninth, inducing three groundouts highlighted by a strong defensive play from Schlafer.
“My approach on defense is to make plays for whoever is on the mound,” Schlafer said. “Errors lead to runs, so my goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Santa Rosa dropped its next game at Cosumnes River College on Feb. 3 after surrendering a walk-off home run.
The Bear Cubs return home Friday to face Cañada College at 2 p.m.
