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There was a very special guest in attendance at the
Cerritos College baseball game on Saturday afternoon,
although he was wearing a uniform unfamiliar with those
who know his history. For 22 years, Wally Kincaid
was in the Falcon pinstripes, as he guided his teams to
six state championships and 678 career wins. The college
eventually named the field after him, while he has since
been elected to the Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and
was selected Baseball America’s Coach of the Century for
the 1900’s. But since his retirement after the 1980
season, he has volunteered his knowledge and services to
those he coached who are now head coaches of their own.
This year, he is providing assistance at Santa Ana
College (2-2), where he coached Don Sneddon, as well as
Falcon (4-1) head coach Ken Gaylord, who were
teammates while they both played at Cerritos under
Kincaid. The two teams put on a special show for Kincaid
and the fans, as Cerritos scored the game-winning run in
the bottom of the ninth inning for a 7-6 non-conference
victory.
Freshman
third baseman Chad Ostahowski (Lake
Elsinore HS) drove in sophomore first baseman
Trever Blood (La Mirada HS) with the
winning run on an infield single in the bottom of
the ninth inning off Eric Cendejas. Blood led off
the inning by drilling a 2-2 pitch into the
left-center field gap for a lead-off triple. After
sophomore shortstop Jerry Pena (Los Altos
HS) was intentionally walked, Ostahowski sent a
ground ball up the middle where Dons second baseman
Casey Rihn could not field the ball, which allowed
Blood to score.
It appeared
as though Santa Ana was going to break the 6-6 tie
in the top of the ninth inning, until freshman
left-hander Jay Heirigs (Rocklin HS)
came on with the bases loaded and no outs and shut
them down. Freshman Tony Peraza (La Mirada
HS) opened the inning by allowing a single to
Travis Leverson before he was relieved by freshman
Steve Blanchette (Schurr HS). After
hitting the first batter and walking the second,
Heirigs came on to face clean-up hitter Kyle
Hardiman, who already had three hits on the day.
Hardiman hit a slow roller toward first base, where
Blood picked up the ball and threw home to freshman
catcher Mario Romero (Los Altos HS)
for the force out. Pinch-hitter Cory Goodchild
followed by grounding into a double play to end the
inning.
The lead
changed hands six times on the day, with the
majority of the runs coming in the latter part of
the game. Cerritos took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of
the seventh inning when they scored three times,
which was in direct response to the two runs Santa
Ana scored in the top of the inning, thanks to a
two-run double by Rihn. With one out, freshman
second baseman Brandon Pesante (La Mirada
HS) walked and stole second base before Blood
was hit by a pitch with two outs. Pena, Ostahowski
and Rodriguez each followed with run-scoring
singles, which gave the team a temporary lead.
Santa Ana
responded with two runs in the top of the eighth
inning, with a wild pitch and an error on the same
play allowing a run to score and setting up the
second run. Peraza, who walked Caleb Boyer to lead
off the inning, had runners at first and third with
one out before he unleashed a wild pitch. The pitch
allowed pinch-runner Jake Eccles to score, while
Rodriguez threw wildly trying to cut down Derek
Eligio at second base after he previously singled.
With a runner at third base, James Davis gave the
Dons a 6-5 lead with a sacrifice fly off Blanchette,
who came on in relief.
Pesante’s
sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth tied the
game, as freshman outfielder Doug Wogee (Sonora
HS) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a
sacrifice bunt by Romero and advanced to third on a
passed ball.
On the day,
Ostahowski went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Blood
had two hits and scored twice. For Santa Ana,
Hardiman and Leverson each had two hits. Cerritos
starter Miguel Flores (St. John Bosco HS)
went the first 6 2/3 innings and allowed six hits
and two runs, while striking out six. Kyle Mertens
started for the Dons and pitched five innings,
allowing two runs (one earned). |
