Canyons Clubs Barstow 12-0 at Cougar Field

College of the Canyons sophomore Chase Wheatcroft tossed seven scoreless innings and the Cougars clubbed 14 hits to defeat Barstow College 12-0 on Saturday at Cougar Field.

Canyons (9-8, 2-0) has now won back-to-back games to begin the Western State Conference (WSC) portion of its schedule. The Cougars compete in the WSC, East Division alongside Barstow, Victor Valley, Antelope Valley, Citrus, and Glendale College.

Wheatcroft (5-0) was excellent on the mound, scattering seven hits and recording seven strikeouts to remain undefeated on the season.

The Cougars gave the six-foot-six-inch right-hander plenty of support on Saturday, scoring a pair of runs in the first and doubling down in the bottom of the third with four runs to take a 6-0 advantage.

COC sophomore catcher Anthony Lepre recorded an RBI single in the first inning to get the scoring started. Kris Keach then followed suit with an RBI base knock of his own that brought Lepre around to score.

Lepre later ripped a solo home run to left-center field that started the Cougars' four-run third inning. He finished the game 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Keach, Wes Felber and Senituli Taufahema also recorded RBIs in the inning.

Keach was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day to go with three RBIs, two runs and a walk.

It was more Canyons in the fourth inning, as Chris May doubled down the left field line to plate Calvin Estrada before the Cougars pushed across a pair of unearned runs to make it 9-0. May went 4-for-5 with three runs and a pair of RBIs.

The Cougars capped the scoring frenzy in the following frame on RBI singles from May, Keach and another unearned run to pull ahead 12-0.

Barstow (5-11, 1-1) committed four errors in the game to aid in the Cougars' big offensive day.

The Vikings managed to put a pair of base runners on in the sixth, but that rally was quickly extinguished by the right arm of May, who threw a Barstow runner out at third from his right field position to make the defensive play of the day.

Barstow then loaded the bases in the seventh before Wheatcroft pitched his way out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

COC relievers Damien Balboa and Jason Carson each tossed an inning of scoreless relief. Carson recorded two strikeouts out the help close out the Vikings who were unable to make any noise the rest of the way.

Canyons returns to action at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, with a road matchup against Antelope Valley.