Cypress Plugs Away for Fourth Straight
Curry struck out five batters Tuesday afternoon. |
April 22, 2008
Final Stats
Cypress, Calif. - Cypress faced a formidable foe in second place Orange Coast after winning three straight. The Chargers came through again with consistent effort punching in 11 runs for the 11-5 win. Sophomore pitcher Alex Curry did his part pitching the middle innings allowing just one run and striking out five to improve to 4-3 on the season.
After falling behind because of an error and a homerun, Cypress chipped away in the bottom of the first. Freshman third baseman Erik Hempe led the Cypress at-bat off with a double down the left field line. Sophomore shortstop Tyler Marmion hit a 1-0 pitch between the infield and outfield in right moving Hempe to third. Sophomore right fielder Brian Burke hit a solid single up the middle bringing in the first Charger run of the day scoring Hempe to cut the lead in half 2-1.
Freshman pitcher Colby Hyatt retired the Pirates in order in the second to put Cypress right back up to bat. Sophomore first baseman AJ Smith led it off with a single to right followed by a well placed single by sophomore second baseman Armando Gallardo. Sophomore center fielder Dennis Gerbasi laid down a bunt single to load the bases. With Hempe back up to bat, he hit a deep one out to center allowing Smith to tag up to score while Gallardo moved to third tying the game at two. Freshman left fielder Jonathan Hurst hit into a fielder’s choice and beat out the double play allowing Gallardo to come home to score for the first Cypress lead 3-2.
The Pirates erased that lead on one swing with a solo homerun tying it at three. OCC then climbed ahead in the fourth off two hits to take their second lead of the game 4-3. Cypress played it efficiently in the bottom of the fourth. Gerbasi used his speed for another bunt single and Hempe reached on a walk. Both moved into scoring position after a balk. Hurst took advantage with a double to left center scoring both to retake the lead 5-4. Hurst moved to third on a ground out and home off an RBI ground out from Burke for the biggest Charger lead yet 6-4.
Sophomore Alex Curry came in to pitch in the top of the fifth with no outs and a man on. He stranded a runner on first and third and keep the Charger lead intact. Cypress kept the offense going in the fifth. Smith and Gallardo strung together two singles and Gerbasi walked to load the bases. With the bases loaded, the Pirates pitcher balked sending Smith home to score for the 7-4 lead.
The sixth inning brought more runs in for the Chargers. Marmion led off with a single up the middle and Burke reached on an error. Freshman pinch hitter Brad Woodend reached on a sacrifice bunt that was fielded as an error while Marmion raced home. Freshman catcher Parker Berberet hit a sacrifice fly to center for Burke to tag up and score. Woodend made his way to third on a wild pitch and Gallardo batted him in with an RBI single to right stretching the Charger lead to six.
Cypress could not help but score again in the seventh. Hempe led it off with a double and moved to third on a ground out and home on an RBI ground out by Marmion for the eleventh run. After a three inning drought, the Pirates picked one up in the eighth but it was not enough as Cypress coasted to the six run win.
Hyatt started the game and allowed three earned runs on six hits while striking out three. Curry allowed one earned run on three hits and Semler closed allowing no earned runs on one hit and struck out one.
Cypress improves to 24-14 and 9-7 in conference just one game behind the Pirates. They face off again Thursday in their third and final match-up. If Cypress can win again, the Chargers can pull into third. The two face off again Thursday at Orange Coast at 2:30 pm.
