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Different means lead to same ends for Coso vs. AVC

By Kyle Kensing, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

Adam Garner delivers from the mound Saturday in Cerro Coso’s 3-2 win over Antelope Valley. The victory was No. 6 for Garner, and the eighth consecutive for the first place Coyotes, who host Desert Thursday at 2 p.m. Daily Independent Photo by Kyle Kensing

One was a heated defensive struggle, the other a Coyote slugfest, but both resulted in Cerro Coso victories this week when the team met Antelope Valley College for a Foothill Conference series.

Coso (12-12, 8-0 Foothill Conference) remained perfect in conference play through two in its series against the Marauders, winning Saturday at home 3-2 and Thursday 16-6 in Lancaster.

The second match on the series and Saturday’s opener of a doubleheader at the Dawg Yard was a pitcher’s duel, with Coso’s Adam Garner and AV’s Antone Ontiveros going throw-for-throw through nine innings.

Though the two hurlers differed vastly, with the 6-foot-3 right hander Garner bringing his powerful fastball and big slider, and the 5-foot-7 Southpaw Ontineros relying on a “crafty” approach, their results were similar.

Each team could manage just four hits apiece on the day.

“Garner’s really maturing as a pitcher,” said CCCC head coach Dick Adams. “He’s doing so well right now, getting ahead in the count, pitching out of problems.”

That ability to pitch out of sticky situations came quite in handy Saturday.

Per Foothill Conference regulations, the first half of doubleheaders are seven innings, with tied games going nine.

The Marauders, not wanting to get into a nine-inning match with Cerro Coso, twice placed runners in scoring position in the latter innings.

But with poise, Garner answered the challenge with three key strikeouts and kept AVC at bay en route to his sixth win of the year.

But more than just extending the pitcher’s record to 6-3, it kept the coals under Coso’s recent hot streak burning.

Saturday’s win — the team’s eighth consecutive — puts the Dawgs at .500 for the first time this season, and keeps them atop the conference standings.

While Garner’s 110-pitch performance was a highlight for Cerro Coso, it wasn’t the only big outing.

Right fielder Zack Wilson and shortstop Mark Sayas were offensive dynamos on a day the Coyotes otherwise struggled at the dish.

Sayas worked his way on base to produce all three of Coso’s runs, while Wilson batted in two big RBIs.

The duo was vital for a Coyote bunch that struggled mightily for hits.

Adams said credit for Coso’s mostly lackluster offensive production goes to Ontiveros, a pitcher he said brings a style that can easily rattle batters.

Coso batters were not shaken up Thursday at Lancaster’s Clear Channel Park, however, in the program’s 300th win.

More likely, the balls may have been quaking in fear, because the Coyotes were tearing the cover off them in a 16-6 rout of AVC.

Though it would go on to dominate, things didn’t start out well for Coso.

Kade McAllister had a difficult 1/3 inning in the first, giving up five quick Marauder runs.

Enter Jessie Zuber.

Zuber went on a tear out of the bullpen, going 8 2/3 innings, striking out five while giving up just four hits, and shutting out Antelope Valley for over seven of them.

It was a pleasant sight for Adams, who said Zuber returned to action this winter in poor physical shape, most notably with a sore elbow.

Thursday, however, “he was dealing,” Adams said.

With Zuber bringing it from the mound, the Coso bats took over in immediate response to AV’s initial five-run outpouring.

Wilson drove in Paul Saville with a single, placing the right fielder and catcher Kyle Hanson on base.

First baseman Andrew Hill stepped to the plate and delivered a three-run jack over the center field wall at Clear Channel.

Adams said the round-tripper measured around 413 feet.

Cody Reiger, filling in for injured second baseman Dustin Romero, kept the runs coming when he advanced on a past ball. Sayas rewarded him with a run-scoring shot.

Kevin Orlowski was next, and the result was yet another Coso RBI.

When the dust settled in the top half of the second, Cerro Coso had come roaring back from down five to take a 7-5 lead — a lead the team wouldn’t relinquish.

Win No. 300 for Dick Adams saw his Coso club tacking on big innings throughout, including another Orlowski RBI, and a run-scoring double from Sayas.

“We kept pressure on them the whole time,” Adams said.

The game marked exactly 13 1/2 years Adams has headed Cerro Coso baseball.

The 16-6 decision put him at 300-240 since coming to CCCC in 1992.

With a guaranteed series win, Coso stands one game above Chaffey in the young conference race.

The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader was after time of press.

The Coyotes return to the Dawg Yard this Thursday for another conference set, this time with College of the Desert.

Action gets underway at 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 19, 2006