Canyons Pitchers Combine For 4-0 Shutout vs. L.A. Valley

College of the Canyons pitchers Jesse Posey and Chad Haslock combined for a two-hit shutout as the Cougars defeated conference opponent L.A. Valley College 4-0 on Saturday afternoon for their third straight victory.

Haslock was credited with the win after taking over for Posey in the fifth inning. The freshman went on to pitch four and 1/3 innings while allowing only one hit, no runs and two walks.

COC right fielder Roy Verdejo powered the offense once again, knocking in the first two runs on a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to give head coach Chris Cota's club a 2-0 lead.

Verdejo's homer was his sixth of the season to top the Western State Conference (WSC) in the category. He is also batting.466 with 19 RBIs, while knocking a hit in 14 of 15 games this season.

With runners at first and second, the Monarchs tried to close the gap in the top of the fifth inning on a single to left field by Isaac Dominguez. However, COC left fielder Cole Mears threw out Dominguez at home plate to keep L.A. Valley off the scoreboard, preserving the shutout for the Cougars.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cougars added to their lead with a Jose Haros single to center field scoring Jake Ryan to give Canyons a 3-0 lead.

Haros now has 17 RBIs on the season and is batting .359 on the season.

The Cougars would add their final run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Verdejo scored on an error coming after a Chris Devery single to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead.

The victory improves COC's record to 10-5 overall and 3-0 against Western State Conference, South division opponents. 

Canyons is currently the No. 13 ranked team in Southern California and will next head to West L.A. College at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 10.