The Cosumnes River College Hawks men’s baseball team won its game against the Gavilan College Rams 7-1 on Friday.
The Hawks scored consistently and only allowed the Rams to score once throughout the game. Despite the team’s win streak continuing, head coach Tony Bloomfield said he is disappointed with the team’s current record for the season.
“We lost all four games earlier in the year. We could have easily been 11-2 right now, but we’re 7-6,” Bloomfield said.
The Hawks scored one run in the bottom of the first inning as the Rams allowed three early walks to the Hawks.
In the top of the second, starting pitcher Anthony Castaneda quickly retired the side, and the inning finished with a diving catch made by centerfielder Peyton Wheatley.
“I was really pumped that our centerfielder made that amazing catch,” said relief pitcher Marcus Helm. “That changed the whole outcome of that inning.”
The Rams continued to struggle getting the ball into the strike zone by adding two more walks to the Hawks. Shortstop Brett Bloomfield gave CRC a 3-0 lead by hitting a two-run single.
The third and fourth innings were dominated by stellar pitching from both teams.
Castaneda made quick work of the top of the fifth. He got two players to strike out before letting one player walk, but the final player of the Rams’ team was caught out before making it to first.
After pitching for five innings, Castaneda was finally replaced by Helm, who pitched the remaining four innings of the game.
“This is my first game going over 75 pitches,” said Castaneda. “I redshirted last year and this is my first year back, so I’ve just been getting my arm more healthy.”
In the top of the sixth, Helm got off to a bad start by walking the first batter he saw. The Rams’ lone run came in this inning with an RBI single.
In the bottom of the sixth, catcher Francisco Prado singled to score Wheatley. Later in the inning, first baseman Billy Rockefeller doubled and advanced right fielder Brian Morley to third and second baseman Trevor Ray scored
Helm came back in the top of the seventh by making the first Rams’ batter strike out, and the following two players grounded out to Ray.
“We had a big lead in the beginning, so coming into the game, I knew what I had to do: just get a lot of outs real fast,” said Helm. “Anytime you have a quick inning like that, it’s good for you keeping your pitch count low and for the team because it gets them on and off the field really quick.”
In the bottom of the seventh, the Rams again let the Hawks walk and get a single before the Hawks made another run. The Hawks continued to get singles before being caught out the rest of the inning.
During the eighth, both teams were caught out at first and the game ended at the top of the ninth, where the Rams players were caught out.
CRC played Gavilan again on Saturday at home and won 23-2.
The Hawks’ next home game is Thursday at 2:00 p.m. against Modesto Junior College.