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Cerro Coso kicks off tourney strong

By Cheeto Barrera, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

DAILY INDEPENDENT PHOTO BY CHEETO BARRERA Cerro Coso pitcher Colby Ingram begins to throw a pitch in the first inning against Oxnard. Ingram led the Coyotes to a 10-8 win, going six, plus innings and giving up four runs.

One of the beauties of holding a large lead is the team holding it has a cushion to work within.

And when Cerro Coso went up 10-1, the team needed every bit of the cushion against Oxnard in the first game of the double header to kick off the Mashin’ in the Mojave Tourney, winning 10-8 on Tuesday.

Starter Colby Ingram had given up just one run through six innings and had completely shutdown the Oxnard players with help from the defense that committed just two errors.

“He really pitched well,” Adams said. “He hasn’t started in a while but he did a really good job.”

Ingram lasted through the seventh inning, giving up four runs, two earned, on nine hits and walking three.

It was the first home win for the Coyotes since defeating Barstow on March 8 and just the second since sweeping Barstow in that series.

But the team was determined to put the five-game streak behind it, which most recently was extended by College of the Desert who had tallied 30 runs behind 13 errors on Saturday.

On Tuesday, coach Dick Adams watched his team correct most of the kinks in the armor.

The bats came to life when they needed to, especially when the bases were loaded.

With two outs, Kyle Hanson cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to give the Coyotes a 4-1 lead.

The double sparked a three-hit rally that extended the lead to 6-1 after a two-run double by Andrew Hill.

Hanson finished the game with five RBIs — he drove in two more runs in the sixth when he hit a bases loaded single. He also went 3-4 on the day with a run scored.

The 10-1 lead began to suffer one inning later as Ingram began to hit a wall. He yielded two runs on a double.

He was replaced by Wes Oliver who allowed two to come across the plate, one of which was charged to Ingram.

Garrett Argyle came in the eighth and allowed two runs before being taken out with one out in the inning.

Despite not wanting to use him, Adams went to Ryan Fisher who recorded the final five outs for the save.

“I’ve got Tyler (McAllister) sitting there and Ryan sitting there and I don’t want to use either of them guys because we’ve got four games in three days, but you got to do what you got to do,” Adams said.

It was a save that Adams wished he didn’t have to get.

But it was a win nonetheless to kick off four home games in the Mashin’ in the Mojave.

“We protected our home field here,” Adams said. “We’ve just always been known as a team that wins at home and people don’t want to come up here.”

The Mashin’ in the Mojave continues this morning at 10 a.m. when Oxnard takes on Pasadena. That game will be followed by Pasadena taking on West Hills at 2 p.m. and Oxnard in a rematch against Cerro Coso at 6 p.m.

The tournament will conclude on Thursday with West Hills in a double header against Oxnard at 10 a.m. and Cerro Coso at 2 p.m.

All Cerro Coso games will be aired on 1360 AM KWDJ.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007