Gauchos chop down Sequoias in opener

The Saddleback baseball team started its three-day road trip at College of the Sequoias with a 9-5 win against the Giants in Visalia.  The Gauchos rapped out 14 hits while taking advantage of six errors from Sequoias.

Saddleback was entering the final two weeks of the season at 16-17 overall and desperate to start a hot streak if it wants to qualify for the playoffs.  The Gauchos picked up a nice win against Sequoias on Tuesday, a team ranked No. 10 in Northern California in the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Poll.

Saddleback fell behind 2-0 in the opening inning and was down 4-2 heading to the seventh inning when they started to rally.  The Gauchos picked up a run in the top half of the seventh to cut the lead to 4-3 when Demitri Colacchio singled home Ryan Thibert to close the gap.

Saddleback then exploded for five runs in the top half of the eighth inning to grab control of the game.  Willie Lajoie tripled home Reed Beverly with one out in the inning to tie the score at 4-4 and Joseph Canty followed with an RBI single to give the Gauchos their first lead of the game.  With two outs in the inning the Giants then committed a costly error in the field, allowing three more unearned runs to score for an 8-4 lead.  Saddleback added an insurance run in the top half of the ninth inning when Chris Demgen doubled home Zack Bowman for a 9-5 lead. 

Thibert and Colacchio were the offensive stars of the game, both going 3-for-5 as Saddleback outhit Sequoias 14-7 for the day.  The pitching staff received a collective effort from Matt Comnos, Wyatt Boone and Curren Larson.  Boone (1-0) came on in the sixth inning and pitched 2.1 innings of work in picking up his first win of the year.  Larson pitched the last 1.2 innings in picking up his second save of the season.

Saddleback is now 17-17 overall and will resume the three-game set at Sequoias at 2:00 PM in Visalia.  Sequoias is now 21-12-1 following the loss.