The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team opened its 2025 campaign with a convincing 11-2 victory propelled by its high-powered offense and stout pitching against Chabot College on Friday at Sypher Field.
The game between the Bear Cubs (1-0) and the Gladiators (0-1) was a rematch from last year’s super regional round of the CCCAA playoffs.
After a scoreless inning and a half to start the game, SRJC put up a crooked number on Chabot in the bottom of the second.
The Bear Cubs started the second inning with singles by freshman designated hitter J.T. Summers and sophomore second baseman Joe Brown. The next two batters were hit by pitches to load the bases and score the first run of the game.
Gladiator’s freshman starting pitcher Jackson Garcia then hit freshman shortstop Brett Neidlinger for his third hit batter of the inning and fourth of the game to put the Bear Cubs up 2-0. The hit batter was followed by an RBI single by freshman center fielder Cooper Wood that put SRJC up 3-0.
With the bases loaded and one out, freshman right fielder Ayden Herrguth stepped into the box and blasted a grand slam deep over the left field fence to cap off the explosive inning and increase the Bear Cubs lead to 7-0.
“In all honesty, I knew we could swing it pretty good,” SRJC Assistant Coach Tommy Francois said. “However, we don’t know what competition we’re going to face as far as pitching goes, it’s always a mystery.”
SRJC sophomore starting pitcher Brice Cox followed up the offensive outbreak in the second inning with a shutdown 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, recording two strikeouts in the frame.
Cox dominated the Gladiators, ending his day with six strikeouts on two hits and one walk, allowing zero earned runs over five masterful innings.
“Our pitching staff is solid in a couple of ways,” Francois said. “They focus on throwing strikes and first pitch strikes are really important. They pitch to contact when they need to.”
With two men on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Brown hooked a ball just inside the left field foul pole to put the Bear Cubs up 11-0, the three-run homerun all but sealed the win for the Bear Cubs.
The offensive outbreak was led by Herrguth who went 2-4 with a homerun, a walk, four RBI and a stolen base. Brown went 2-5 with a homerun, a walk and three RBI on the day.
The Bear Cubs go on the road to Chabot on Saturday for the second game of their two-game series with the Gladiators at 1 p.m. and return home to play West Valley College on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
