Bobcats fall in series opener

The Saddleback baseball team fell to College of the Canyons, 6-5, in the opening game of a three-game series in the regional finals.  The Bobcats need to win both Saturday and Sunday in order to keep their season alive and advance to the state tournament. 

Saddleback scored solo runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.  J.C. Allen drove in the second run when he singled home Michael Davinni.

Canyons battled back, scoring two runs in the top half of the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2.  The Cougars then scored three times in the top half of the fifth inning, thanks in large part to an error with one out in the inning.  The Cougars took advantage when Colin Yeaman and Jake Schwartz had back-to-back singles to give Canyons a 5-2 lead.

Saddleback had solo runs in the fifth and seventh inning to get within 5-4 heading to the late innings.  Allen tripled home Jason Hefft to make the score 5-3 and Cole Koniarsky doubled home Isaiah Morales to make the score 5-4.

Canyons tacked on an insurance run in the top half of the eighth inning to take a two run advantage.  The Bobcats battled back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to make it a one-run game when Morales doubled home Makani Tanaka to make the score 6-5.

Unfortunately, Saddleback would not get any closer.  The Bobcats put the tying run on second base in the bottom half of the ninth inning when Koniarsky doubled to left field with one out in the inning.  Canyons closer Xavier Stoker then slammed the door shut with a fly out to left field and a strikeout to end the game.  It was his second save of the season.

Isaiah Morales was one of the offensive stars for Saddleback, finishing 3-for-4 and reaching base four times.  Allen finished 2-for-3 with a walk while Koniarsky was 2-for-4 with a walk.

Canyons (28-17) now leads the best-of-three series 1-0 heading into game two on Saturday.  The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.