COC Sophomore JC Cloney Tosses Complete Game for 3-2 Victory over L.A. Mission

College of the Canyons sophomore JC Cloney held off a ninth inning comeback attempt by L.A. Mission College to finish off a complete game and earn the Cougars' fifth consecutive win with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon.

Cloney (4-3) scattered seven hits and a walk while striking out eight Eagles batters. Both runs scored against the lefty were unearned.

COC took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when shortstop Jose Haros scored after a ball four-pitch got past the Mission catcher.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Tyler Ryan walked and advanced to second on a Jake Ryan groundout. COC second baseman Colton Burns then singled home the runner from second to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

Burns went 2-for-3 in the game and drew a walk. His RBI in the fifth inning was his seventh of the season. The freshman now has a .387 batting average.

In the top of the ninth inning, with COC leading 3-1, L.A. Mission tried to scrape together a few more runs and crack Cloney's dominance up that point.

L.A. Mission's Andru Cardenas, C.J. Witkowski and Brandon Ortiz each singled to load the bases with two outs. A passed ball by COC catcher Jake Ryan allowed Carden to score to cut the Cougars lead to 3-2 with runners on second and third.

However, Cloney then struck out pinch hitter Joseph Guerrero to end the Eagles rally and the game.

Cloney won his second consecutive decision, and now sports a 2.16 ERA on the season with 39 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched.

Canyons is now 12-5 on the season and 5-0 against Western State Conference, South division opponents.

COC's next game takes the team north to face Bakersfield College, at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 14.