Canyons Takes Series Opener vs. Cosumnes River 12-7

Though the game took nearly 24 hours to complete, the College of the Canyons baseball team claimed its second victory of the season on Friday, after wrapping up a 12-7 win over Cosumnes River College that begin on Thursday.

Canyons (2-3) started the first of a three-game series with Cosumnes at 2 p.m. on Thursday, before the contest was eventually halted after eight innings due to darkness.

With the Hawks already scheduled to be in town through the weekend, the two teams opted to play the final three outs the following day, prior to the start of the second game.

The Cougars trailed through most of the game as CRC jumped out to a 6-1 lead through the first five innings. 

COC finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of unearned runs. In the next frame the Cougars exploded for eight runs on six hits, highlighted by a two home run performance from Cole Kleszcz.

Kleszcz led off the inning with a solo home run, then blasted a three-run shot later in the inning to put an exclamation mark on COC's offensive explosion. The freshman center fielder finished the game 3-for-5 with five RBIs on the day.

Blake Doremus clubbed a two-run double in the inning, and Wes Felber also singled home a run in what turned out to be the decisive sequence for the Cougars. 

Cosumnes River scored once more in the eighth inning to keep things close at 11-7, but that effort was canceled out by a solo home run off the bat of catcher Anthony Lepre in the home half of the eighth.

Lepre finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI. Third baseman Calvin Estrada also had a three-hit performance for the Cougars.

On the mound, sophomore Justin Dehn got the start but was chased after four and 1/3 innings of work. Though the Hawks were able to score six runs off the right-hander, only two of those were earned runs. Dehn also had two strikeouts.

Connor Dreyer (1-0) was eventually credited with the win. He recorded four strikeouts in his one and 2/3 innings. COC relievers Jack Kernochan and Sean Ward each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to help in the comeback bid. 

Cosumnes was retired in order during the top half of the ninth inning, played on Friday, for a 12-7 final score.

— Story and photos by Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information