Coyote Athletics : Baseball : Articles

Cerro Coso in ‘must sweep' mode against Barstow

By Cheeto Barrera, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

"We have no breathing room. We need to win, win."

Despite giving up six runs in the final two innings against Barstow, Cerro Coso cruised to a 15-10 victory on Thursday.

The Coyotes had 15 hits and jumped out a 14-4 lead through seven innings, prompting Dick Adams to pull starter Steve Johnson who improved to 6-4.

Adams, however, was a little nervous with the end of the game, heading into Barstow today.

“Heading into Saturday, we didn't want them felling to good about themselves, but they hit a couple of bombs against us,” Adams said. “We're in sweep mode. We need momentum as we make a run at the second playoff sport. We have no breathing room. We need to win, win. It's a must sweep situation.”

Cerro Coso stands at 5-5 in Foothill Conference play (14-16 overall) and will take on the front runners Chaffey and Rio Hondo after finishing with Barstow. The Coyotes must finish in at least second to qualify for the playoffs. “We have to get into a position to make these games mean something,” Adams said.

Cerro Coso took advantage of the Vikings' aggressiveness through most of the game, getting nearly all fly outs with four strikeouts through eight innings.

But in the eighth, the attack in the air started paying off, as home runs led to a four-run inning with two more scored in the ninth.

The Coyotes, however, had been crushing the ball most of the game anyway and was able to absorb the late barrage.

Mark Moriarty and T.J. Gale both hit home runs for Cerro Coso. Moriarty drove in five runs with Gale coming around to score four times, going 4-5 on the day.

Fred Bello scored two runs on three hits, followed by Anthony Dee going 2-3 with two runs scored.

Adams said he hopes the hot streak at the plate continues through the weekend, but added it will largely depend on the wind conditions - which is forecasted to be between 15 and 20 miles per hour with gusts as high as 35. He said windy conditions may play into Barstow's strength - mainly hitting the long ball.

To counter the treat in today's doubleheader, Adams will throw Darren Travers and Eugene Wright, with Colby Ingram waiting in the wings coming off a solid start against Pasadena last week.

March 31, 2008

For more on this story please subscribe to The Daily Independent at: dieditor@ridgecrestca.com