BASEBALL

Rocca made a diving stop on a ground ball and flipped the ball behind his head to shortstop Isaiah Dominguez covering second to start a 4-6-3 double play, one of two by the COC defense. The AVC defense also turned two double plays.

COC answered with three runs in the top of the sixth, five runs in the seventh and two in the eighth.

“It is always tough to come here to play,” Canyons coach Chris Cota said. “You’ve got a little extra wind. Bryan does a good job with these guys. They’ve struggled a little bit, but they always come ready to play. You saw that they brought it back to a ball game after we scored 10.

“I’m proud of the way they bounced back after Antelope Valley came back. We just kept the pressure on them with the offense and finally we were able to throw up a couple of zeros at the end of the game.”

In the first inning, COC sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring 10 runs on seven hits, all with two outs. AVC starting pitcher Ben Hewitt left the game after eight batters and two outs with apparent shoulder discomfort.

“We were the most improved

junior college team in the state of California last year,” Moses said. “I really wanted to build off that and I am disappointed with where we are right now. We’ve been decimated by injuries.

“The thing about that is no one cares. No one cares if you’re hurt. Your opponent just wants to beat you and they don’t care. Us being hurt should have little to do with our performance as of late.”

It was the fourth straight loss for the Marauders, including a 15-3 loss to Canyons on Tuesday. AVC will play at COC on Saturday at 1 p.m.

AVC designated hitter Trey Thomas finished 4-for-6 at the

plate with two RBIs and a run scored, leadoff batter Keon Moseni was 3-for-6 with three runs scored and an RBI and Zach Terry and Jack Taylor both had two hits and scored three runs.

Canyons sophomore designated hitter Andrew Allanson, a Quartz Hill High graduate, hit an RBI double in the first and finished 2-for-6 with two RBIs and a run scored.

“I feel like we really came together as a team, even though we were struggling as a pitching staff today,” Allanson said. “We really picked each other up with the bats.

“It takes a lot of trust. We pass the baton, keep the next

guy going and just have very team ABs. We just kept the foot on the gas pedal. Even if they didn’t score 16, we would have just kept passing the baton in hitting.”

Canyons outhit AVC 22-19, as the Cougars had eight batters finish with at least two hits and another eight had at least two RBIs.

COC’s Ryan Camacho and Dane Flashberg both had four hits apiece and Flashberg also drove in five runs.

“What you need to do is try to stay within yourself,” Cota said. “With the wind blowing, guys get here and say, ‘Gosh, I just need to get the ball up in the air.’ You’ve got to have a plan. You’ve got to have an approach and I think our guys kind of stayed with that approach today.”

Canyons sophomore reliever Matthew Chavez, a Highland High graduate, retired the side in order in the ninth inning, striking out one in his one inning of work.

Allanson initially attended Cal State Bakersfield after graduating from Quartz Hill.

“I knew Chris Cota had a very reputable program and I just wanted to go to a place where I can play with some freedom and have some fun,” Allanson said.