Baseball: Post-Season Run Ends

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The No. 3 seed Bear Cub baseball team ran into a buzz saw against No. 2 Delta College in the California Community College Athletic Association Northern Sectional Regional Playoffs. The team's hope of a state title run ended when SRJC lost twice in the best of three games series on Friday and Saturday at Nick Cecchetti Field in Stockton. The Bear Cubs struggled at the plate in game one. They could not find any success against the Delta pitching staff. The Mustangs capitalized in the third inning on a huge home run blast thanks to Phil Clark, who nailed an opposite field 354-foot two run shot to give Delta a two nothing lead. Those runs were all that were required by the home team to capture game one 2-0. Santa Rosa hurler Brandon Hagerla threw a gem, the only mistake he made was the third inning home run. The sophomore pitched in eight innings of work. He struck out four and didn't give up a walk. The Bear Cubs got two men on base with one out in the ninth, but Anthony Bender grounded into a double play to end the game. Delta, the top seed in the bracket, banged out eight hits, while winning pitcher Matt Valencia limited SRJC to five singles. Dane Erbst and Weston Bryan led the offense with two hits apiece. In the first two rounds of the tournament, Santa Rosa lost the first game in both best-of-three series and came back to win two straight. It was the same theme in game two for Santa Rosa they simply could not put the bat on the ball. Again, Delta pitching proved to be too much to handle. The visitors would go on to defeat losing 5-1. The Bear Cubs had seven hits and left eleven men on base in game two. Sophomore, outfielder Parker Shaw, a San Rafael High graduate, did a solid job at the plate going 2 for 3 hitting two doubles. Starting freshman pitcher Kyle Mitchell only lasted one and third innings. After several pitching changes, freshmen Anthony Bender threw the rest of the game going five innings. Bender gave up six hits on two earned runs and struck out three batters. Santa Rosa JC managed to produce 29 wins in the 2014 season and suffered just 14 losses overall. The Bear Cubs finished in second place in the Big 8 Conference at 13-8. The conference is considered the toughest junior college competition in California.