Cougars Win Again, 12-6 Over Cypress

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

College of the Canyons used a seven-run fifth inning rally to surge past visiting Cypress College 12-6 at Cougar Field on Tuesday, as the COC lineup continued its recent trend of producing prodigious run totals.

Canyons (6-8) has pushed across 47 runs in its last four games resulting in back-to-back wins and victories in three of the last four. In the three wins COC has scored 11, 16 and 12 runs, respectively. 

Tuesday's output came by way of 10 hits, four walks and eight hit batsmen which kept the basepaths flush with Cougars for most of the afternoon.

Tafton Hensley homered for the second straight game, swiped a pair of bags and scored two runs to lead the way. His big swing in the third was a no doubter and brought Canyons to within a run at 4-3.

Hensley's RBI single in the fifth started a scoring frenzy in which the Cougars pounded out seven runs on five hits.

Steven Gonzalez and Andy Ambriz both added RBI base hits. Then, after a Cypress (7-8) pitching change Jovan Camacho and Ryan Camacho took turns welcoming the new Chargers hurler with two-run singles that broke the game wide open at 11-4.

Gonzalez added another run-producing hit in the eighth for the final COC run.

Albert Prado started the game and pitched three innings allowing four runs on five hits and a walk. From there, the Cougars kept an active bullpen as head coach Chris Cota handed the ball to six different pitchers in the game. 

Dylan Jacobs, Kyle Cop, Brandon Whiting and Josh Yosfan each made a scoreless relief appearance. Cop (3-1) earned the win after pitching the fifth inning. Xavier Stoker surrendered a pair of long balls but recorded the final four outs to seal the win. 

CANYONS TOP PERFORMERS

• Tafton Hensley — 2-for-3, HR, 2 SB, 2 R, RBI
• Ryan Camacho — 1-for-2, BB, R, 3 RBI
• Steven Gonzalez — 2-for-4, BB, R, 2 RBI
• Andy Ambriz — 1-for-3, BB, 3 R, RBI
• Jovan Camacho — 2-for-3, R 2 RBI

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Canyons will conclude its home-away series vs Cypress at 2 p.m. Thursday in Cypress. The Cougars will then have an off weekend before opening Western State Conference (WSC), South Division play Tuesday, March 8, at L.A. Valley. That series will shift back to Cougar Field on Thursday, March 8 before a Saturday afternoon finale on March 12.

COC baseball home games will be live streamed to fans on YouTube via the Cougars Sports Network. Continue to monitor www.COCathletics.com for livestream links or subscribe to the COC Athletics channel on YouTube. 

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Kyle Kawamoto/COC Sports Information