Eduardo Miranda
The Daily Independent
The Cerro Coso baseball team returned home on a current three-game winning streak with the last two on the road at Rio Hondo and Porterville. The Coyotes welcomed Santa Barbara Community College in a nine-inning match in front of an empty home field. The Coyotes were undefeated going into the match against the Vaqueros, but at the end of nine innings they suffered their first home loss of the season, 12-2.
"It's a bad loss. It certain wasn't how we planned or wanted to come out," said Head Coach Justus Scott on the loss. "Santa Barbara is a very good team and a perennial playoff contender. It just we didn't play well in all facets. We walked too many guys and we struck out too many times offensively. That combination there is usually not much success."
The first inning saw both teams held scoreless with the Coyotes defense was able to catch the visiting base runner trying to steal second base for the final out. The Coyotes had four batters in the bottom of the first but left the runner stranded. That was the closest Cerro Coso was to beating the Vaqueros, as the game changed from the second inning forward.
The bullpen struggled with the Coyotes calling upon five hurlers after pulling starter Kanon Welbourne. He went 2.1 innings giving up six hits all earned with four walks and two strikeouts. Trenton Doty threw 0.2 innings giving up a hit with a strikeout. Herbie Mitchell went three innings giving up seven hits for four runs all earned with two walks and a strikeout. Carter Lindell threw an inning giving up a hit for two earned runs with two walks. Andrew Ponciano threw a scoreless inning with two walks and a strikeout. De'jon Mitchell threw a scoreless inning with a walk and strikeout. In total the Coyotes bullpen gave up 15 hits for 12 runs and gifted the Vaqueros with 11 walks and had six strikeouts.
As the bullpen struggled, the Coyotes offense also struggled against Santa Barbara. In nine innings, the Coyotes scored on two runs on six hits with an RBI. They walked five times and were struck out 12 times, and left 12 runners stranded on base including leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the third. Gavin Fraser scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third and Kelvin Baez scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Aidan Johnson. Scott spoke on the struggle of the bullpen and offense as they prepare for a four-game road trip.
"That is the thing and there is no secret in baseball, and I say it all the time, you have to have pitching. And we have the guys but we can't give free bases especially against good hitting teams. They will make you pay for it," he said. "Same thing we struggled a little bit (offensively) the last couple of games. We have been able to scratch some wins but offensively we are not as good as we normally are. It's the same thing, the next two days we have to figure it out offensively have better at bats, better two strikes hitting we are striking out a lot. We are not built like we were in the pass with three run homers. We have to put more balls in play and steal some bases and grind it out one through nine offensively."
The Coyotes defense did make some plays but not enough to keep themselves in the game. The defense caught the runner trying to steal second in the first inning to end the inning. They caught back-to-back runners trying to steal second in the top of the second inning, and made a few saves in the latter innings. But the finished with an error and were inconsistent allowing the Vaqueros to score multiple runs in multiple innings including loading the bases in the third, sixth, and eighth innings. Scott looked at that and said his team needs to become consistent on the defensive end to have a chance to stay in games and earn wins. He added especially with the offense not being a three-run homer built they need the consistency, and in the 12-2 loss against Santa Barbara, he believes a few good defensive plays and a few good pitches and it's a different game that his team has a chance to have a big inning and be in it.
The Coyotes are on the road for the next four games beginning with Cypress on Friday and then facing Santa Barbara on Saturday. They then travel to Imperial Valley on Tuesday and close the road trip at Grossmont on Wednesday. Cerro Coso returns home hosting Grossmont on Saturday, February 24th, with the first pitch at 1 p.m.
"It's not going to get any easier," Scott said about the upcoming road trip. "Cypress again who we played in playoff last year we have tomorrow, and we have these guys, Santa Barbara, again on Saturday. It's good for us but we have to play better baseball. Regardless of where we are right now, regardless if we drop tomorrow and Saturday the baseball has to be better going into next week."