No. 2 Canyons Walks Off As 7-6 Winners; Win Streak at 10 Games

The sky was darkening, rain was falling and the game was drawing to a close when freshman catcher Anthony Lepre stepped to the plate and promptly belted a three-run walk-off home run to give No. 2 regionally ranked College of the Canyons a dramatic 7-6 win over conference rival L.A. Mission College on Thursday. 

The clutch knock was Lepre's 10th of the season, ranking him second in the state behind teammate Chad Bible's total of 11. Lepre finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBIs and also scored a run.

The ninth inning offensive jolt came with the Cougars playing in unfamiliar territory — trailing on their home field.

Canyons (22-4, 9-2) is 11-1 at Cougar Field this season, with the lone defeat coming in a 12-10 loss to No. 4 Cosumnes River back on March 5. 

In addition to displaying some home field prowess, the Cougars have now won 10 straight games to sit in first place in the Western State Conference (WSC), South.

On Thursday, head coach Chris Cota's club appeared eager for the opportunity to produce some ninth-inning heroics.

Trailing 6-3, COC second baseman Colton Burns led off the inning with a double that ignited the dugout.

Chris McCready then followed suit with a single. Bible made it three straight hits by singling in Burns to make it 6-4.

The RBI was Bible's state-leading 45th of the year. He finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs and a walk, to go along with a highlight reel catch in the seventh inning that robbed L.A. Mission of a home run.

Two batters later Lepre ended the game with his opposite-field home run, prompting the entire COC roster to mob him at home plate.

Reliever Zach Hanks (1-0) was credited with the win after pitching a hitless ninth inning. Troy Prober worked 3 and 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after replacing COC starter Chase Wheatcroft in the fourth inning.

The Cougars also previously defeated the Eagles (9-17, 3-8) by a 10-2 score on Tuesday.

Canyons and L.A. Mission will now square off in the final game of a three-game series at 1 p.m. Friday at Cougar field. That contest, which was originally scheduled to take place Saturday in Sylmar, will feature COC as the designated road team.