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Santa Rosa Junior College Wins CCCAA State Championship
Courtesy Santa Rosa Junior College Athletics
by Howard Senzel - FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Santa Rosa JC’s baseball team had to play two games in near 100-degree heat Monday in Fresno, but in the end it was worth it as the Bear Cubs wound up winning the CCCAA State Tournament.
Santa Rosa beat Golden West, 6-3, in the winner-take-all game.
The Bear Cubs could’ve captured the championship earlier in the day. However, they suffered a 12-10 loss to Golden West for their first defeat in the double-elimination final four format.
The title game was full of suspense. The Rustlers led 1-0 after 31/2 innings and it was 3-3 going to the bottom of the seventh.
Santa Rosa, which came into the tournament as the top-ranked junior college team in California, scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Jeff Bart reached on an error by the shortstop. Originally, Bart was called out but after conferencing, the umpires changed the call and ruled the first baseman pulled his foot off the bag.
A wild pitch moved the Rancho Cotate graduate to second base and he came home on Zach Hall’s single to right field.
Santa Rosa scored two insurance runs in the eighth. Mitch West doubled to the left field wall and scampered home on a double by Bryce Nagata down the left field line.
Nagata then scored on Ryder Kuhns’ single to center field.
Ladd Ah Choy pitched the first five innings, Anthony Bender came in and went three and Alec Rennard pitched the final inning.
It was Bender’s longest stint on the mound since coming back from an oblique problem.
“I wanted to go out and pitch the ninth but coach (Damon Neidlinger) told me when I came to the dugout after the eighth that Rennard was going to pitch the ninth.
“I was OK with that since he’s been awesome all year. I knew he would close it out for us.” Bender, from Casa Grande, was the winning pitcher.