No. 16 Canyons Drops Playoff Series to No. 2 Glendale

Story and photos by Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director  

GLENDALE — A battle was staged at Stengel Field on Saturday, coming in the form of a playoff doubleheader between No. 16 College of the Canyons and No. 2 Glendale College that saw the Cougars win a 10-inning affair in the opener before eventually falling to the top-ranked Vaqueros late in game three to see its season end.

Canyons (22-22), playing in the postseason for the first time since 2018, evened the series with a walk-off 7-6 victory in Game 2 that came byway of a Tafton Hensley RBI-single that brought Rowan Teran in to score and gave the new Cougars new life in the series.

COC scored runs in both the eighth and ninth inning to push the game into extras after beginning the rally trailing 6-4.

Teran's solo home run in the eighth put the game at 6-5. In the next frame DJ Kougher doubled home Doyle Kane to knot things up at 6-6. 

Scott Bauman pitched the final 1 and 2/3 innings to get the win for the Cougars after being able to shut down the Vaquero lineup when it mattered most. Bauman recorded a pair of strikeouts in the top of the 10th to finish the game with three. COC was the designated home team in game 2, setting up the dramatic walk off.

Josh Yosfan started the game and lasted the first 5 1/3 innings, outdueling Glendale starter Kenji Pallares through the better part of his shift. Yosfan allowed two runs on four hits and a walk to go with four strikeouts. 

Glendale's biggest output came in the eighth with a four-run, go-ahead rally that included a two-run home run from Joey Craig and an RBI-single from Alex Mills that plated another pair of runs. 

Canyons got on the board first with Mikey Kane's base hit that drove home brother Doyle Kane. Later in the inning Teran drove home two more runs for a 3-0 Cougar advantage.  

Teran went 3-for-3 with a home run, double, three runs and three RBIs. Hensley finished the game 3-for-6 after recording the game-winning hit.

COC head coach Chris Cota again handed the ball to Bauman to begin game three with the freshman able to gut his way through six innings of work and keep the Cougars in the ballgame. 

Canyons took an early 3-2 lead on a two-run double from Ryan Camacho in the second, but saw that advantage quickly evaporate after a grand slam from Craig and another pair of manufactured runs that put the Vaqueros back on top at 8-3 after three.

The Cougars battled back on another RBI from Ryan Camacho, a walk and passed ball sequence that allowed Jovan Camacho to come home, and a two-run double from Kougher that closed the gap at 8-7.

The next inning it was Jovan Camacho singling in Teran for a tie ballgame at 8-8.

Once again, that position would be short lived as the Vaqueros answered with home runs from Isaiah Velazco and Artin Biageyian to reestablish the Glendale advantage 10-8.

Mikey Kane's RBI ground out in the sixth would prove to be the Cougars final growl before a 12-9 final score that eliminated Canyons from postseason play. 

The Vaqueros, champions of the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division, will now host No. 10 El Camino College in a three-game set beginning Friday, May 13 at Stengel Field.

Canyons finishes the 2022 campaign with an even 22-22 record. The Cougars were 12-9 vs. conference opponents to finish runner-up behind Glendale. COC then defeated No. 17 Cerro Coso College 11-4 in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Playoffs Play-In round on May 3 at Cougar Field. The postseason victory was the program's first since the 2018 season. 

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.