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D heats up, bats cool for Coso in 0-4 weekend

By Kyle Kensing, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

Paul Saville

Cerro Coso had a solid weekend on the mound and in the field, but lack of run production kept the Coyotes out of the win column in a four-game slate.

Coso (1-7) played Pierce College tight in a double-header, dropping the first one 7-5, and the second 6-2.

Cameron White went 2-4 in the second game with an RBI, while left fielder Paul Saville went 3-5 in what was an otherwise tough offensive outing.

The Coyotes lost pitcher Jessie Zuber in the first inning when he took a line drive to the hip.

In relief, Aaron Keplinger pitched five-and-two-thirds innings and gave up just two earned runs.

However, four Coyote errors allowed Pierce’s offensive the window it needed to come away with its second win.

The first game of the double dip saw two RBIs from Saville, with shortstop Mark Sayas and second baseman Dustin Romero each batting in a run.

Head coach Dick Adams said the bullpen put on an excellent performance against Pierce, something he said was “the opposite of last week.”

The Coyote defense also played its part, committing just one error on the game.

The Dawgs’ Achilles’ heel was the inability to drive in runs.

Coso stranded six runners in scoring position in the first of the two-game set.

“We’re playing good defense, we’re pitching adequately, and we’re getting hits,” Adams said. “But our run production is poor.”

That trend carried over from the first two games of the weekend schedule.

In the fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings against Glendale, Coso stranded runners, including an eighth inning with players on second and third and no outs.

Glendale’s three runs were enough to cement the win, 3-1.

Pitcher Ryan Short went seven innings and gave up just two runs on seven hits.

Tyler McAllister came on in relief to strike out two and give up a single run on one hit.

Right fielder and Burroughs High School alum Tyler Curran batted in Coso’s lone run, while batting 2-3 on the day.

The first three innings were a shootout in the weekend’s first game with College of the Canyons.

The 9-3 final score was tallied by the end of that stretch.

The Coyotes allowed just seven Canyons hits, with reliever Daniel Dobson going five-and-two-thirds — most of which were shutout innings.

Dobson gave up a home run in his first inning, but regrouped to shut down the Canyons offense.

As it would throughout the weekend, the Coyote offense just could not capitalized on its opportunities.

Canyons committed four errors, but Coso couldn’t springboard from that to push enough runs across the plate, despite two RBIs from Andrew Mosjc.

Coso looks to rebound in its first home series of the season Friday and Saturday against Diablo Valley.

The Coyotes take to the field Friday at 2 p.m., with the first half of a double-header kicking off Saturday at 11 a.m.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006