Signals AZ

Yavapai College Baseball Sweeps Pima



Article audio is made possible by CAST11 Prescott Podcast Network. A Talking Glass Media production.

On a windy, chilly Tuesday afternoon at Roughrider Park in Prescott, the Yavapai College baseball team secured a much-needed sweep over the Pima Community College Aztecs who narrowly trail the Roughriders in the ACCAC standings.

Yavapai College, Roughrider Baseball, Yavapai College, baseball,

By Chris Henstra

“I was very happy to see our guys overcome some adversity after making some physical mistakes,” Head Coach Ryan Cougill said. “Their hearts stayed in all day, their minds stayed focused and we won through attrition. It feels good to beat a good opponent with two quality team wins.”

Winning 11-5 in game one and 15-9 in game two, the Roughriders have now won five in a row and are 31-12-1 overall and 19-9 in the ACCAC.

Game One

Early and often was the offensive theme in game one for YC as redshirt-sophomore outfielder Sean Rimmer smoked an RBI double in the bottom of the first and was followed by an RBI single from freshman utility man Ben Zeigler.

Up 2-0, Rimmer stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third and launched a no-doubt two-run homer out of the park to give the Roughriders a four-run lead. Later in the frame, freshman infielder Alex Ulloa smoked an RBI double to right to make it a 5-0 ballgame.

Down 5-0, Pima made the rest of the contest anything but easy for Yavapai. The Aztecs responded to the deficit with a five-spot in the top of the fourth (three of those runs coming on two-out RBI singles) to tie things up.

In the bottom of the fourth, Zeigler scorched another RBI single to help YC regain the lead.

The teams traded zeros in the fifth inning and after Pima failed to score in the top of the sixth, Yavapai put the metaphorical nail in the coffin with a five-spot of its own in the bottom of the frame.

In the inning, sophomore utility man JT Taylor hit an inside-the-park two-run homer, redshirt-sophomore outfielder Amari Bartee had an RBI single, sophomore infielder Kade York had a bases-loaded RBI bunt single and sophomore infielder Travis Warinner earned a free pass with the bases juiced to complete the five-run inning and push the YC lead to 11-5.

Freshman righty Cayden Collins then pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the 11-5 win. Overall, Collins pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

Collins came on in relief for sophomore righty Nate Ward who drew the start in game one. Ward tossed 4.1 innings himself and struck out four while surrendering five runs.

At the plate, Taylor, Rimmer, and Zeigler all wound up with three hits while Warinner, sophomore utility man Jo Stevens, Bartee, Ulloa, sophomore catcher Alton Gyselman, and York all finished with one as every game-one starter hit safely in the contest.

Game Two

After a big victory in game one, game two got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Roughriders as some sloppy play led to another five-run frame for Pima in the top of the second.

York walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 5-1, however the Aztecs ballooned their advantage to 8-1 with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Down 8-1 and needing some offense, the Roughriders turned to Rimmer who sent a jolt of electricity through the park with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit down to just 8-4.

With momentum swinging back to the green and gold, Yavapai held Pima scoreless in the top of the sixth and launched some more fireworks in the bottom half of the frame.

With one out and the bases loaded, Taylor lined an RBI single to left-center field to bring the score to 8-6. Two batters later, Zeigler tallied an RBI on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and YC officially completed the comeback one batter after Zeigler as two Roughriders came home on an Aztec error.

Now leading 9-8, Bartee brought the house down with a three-run opposite-field homer to give YC a 12-8 lead and complete the eight-run inning.

With a seemingly new ballgame, the Roughriders stayed relentless and tacked on some insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh on RBI hits from Rimmer, Zeigler, and Stevens.

Pima was able to scratch a run across in the top of the eighth, however, the Roughriders took home the 15-9 victory in eight innings as the game was ended early due to visibility.

On the mound, freshman righty Jackson Thomas got the start and went four innings while allowing just three earned runs. Sophomore righty Ben Staiger followed Thomas with two innings in which he allowed no earned runs. Redshirt-sophomore lefty Cal Lambert then pitched a scoreless inning before handing the ball to freshman lefty Justin Hanson who closed the game with three strikeouts and just one run allowed.

At the plate, Rimmer led the way with three hits while Taylor, Zeigler, Stevens, and Bartee all had two. York added a hit to the game-two effort as well.

Up Next

Yavapai baseball continues its homestand on Saturday, April 16, when it faces the Cochise College Apaches. The first pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon.

Read more stories in Sports on Signals A Z.com.


YouTube player
If you like this story, consider subscribing to Signals Updates, Entertainment Events & News!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.