The Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team took the second game of a three-game series against Folsom Lake, thanks to 10 runs at home on Thursday.
The Bear Cubs closed out Big 8 Conference play at home, going 19-1 and 37-1 overall on the season. Despite only six hits, they tallied eight walks, extending their Big 8 Conference lead in on-base percentage to .424.
Sophomore Brice Cox got the start for the Bear Cubs. He found himself in some early trouble, allowing a run on two hits through the first three hitters.
The Bear Cubs’ bats didn’t allow Folsom Lake to hold the lead for even an inning. Freshman center fielder Cooper Wood was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and freshman right fielder Ayden Herrguth followed that up with a bomb over the left field wall to give the Bear Cubs a 2-1 lead.
“This is huge for my confidence,” Herrguth said. “I had a rough game last game. I was just being aggressive on strikes and that’s how it turned out.”
The Bear Cubs weren’t done. Freshman designated hitter J.T. Summers walked, sophomore second baseman Joe Brown was hit by a pitch, then freshman left fielder Shane Moran stepped up and destroyed a three-run home run over the right-field wall for the Bear Cubs’ second homer of the inning, extending the lead to 5-1.
“That was a grown man hit right there,” assistant coach Tom Francois said. “You’re down one and you put up five. That’s very demoralizing.”
Cox settled into the game, going four more innings not allowing another run while striking out four Folsom Lake hitters.
“When you get a jam like that, you give up one in the first, and then you start dealing for the next four, that’s huge,” Francois said. “That’s why, with these guys, the confidence level is so high.”
Sophomore third baseman Tyler Nordyke walked to open up the second inning, followed by a throwing error on a Cooper Wood ground ball that set up runners at second and third for Ayden Herrguth, who delivered again with a two-run single up the middle for his third and fourth RBIs of the game, making the game 7-1.
The Bear Cubs weren’t done adding yet. Shane Moran singled in the fifth inning and followed that up with a stolen base, and freshman shortstop Caze Derammelaere singled up the middle to bring home Moran and make the game 8-1.
Sophomore pitcher Luke Schat came in for Cox in the sixth and followed suit, striking out five while only allowing two hits in his four innings of work.
The Bear Cubs scored two more in the seventh on five walks by Folsom Lake pitchers.
“We’re playing at an extremely competitive level,” Francois said. “That’s what it takes—every dog eats meat, every doggone one, every pitch, every at-bat.”
“I felt good. I feel like the team was pretty locked in the whole time, as we always are,” Moran said. “We’ve got to get a sweep tomorrow, and then our job is finished for the regular season and then playoff time.”
Schat slammed the door in the ninth on a dominant 10-1 Bear Cubs victory. With a 6-1 win at Folsom Lake on Friday, the Bear Cubs closed out the regular season at 38-1.
SRJC will enter 3C2A playoffs as the No. 1 seed and face American River College in a best-of-three series in Regionals, with Game 1 Friday, Game 2 Saturday and if necessary, Game 3 immediately after Game 2.
