ANDREW SHORTHALL | staff writer
Cougar baseball played the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Class A minor league team, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, in a nine inning exhibition game at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga last Tuesday.
The Quakes came out on top, winning 6-3. It was a competitive matchup for the whole nine innings, but the Quakes took advantage of a few Cougar mistakes, including six walks and three errors. The game between APU’s baseball team and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes is a special event in the year for both teams. It has become an annual fi xture, ever since the Cougars established a connection with the Quakes through a former player, baseball head coach Paul Svadgis said.
Many baseball greats and Angel stars have spent time with the Quakes, including Garret Anderson, Steve Finley, Troy Glaus, Gary Matthews Jr., Francisco Rodriquez, Derrek Lee and Tim Salmon. The Cougars realize they could be playing potential Major League all-stars when they step onto the Epicenter fi eld.
The game is not just played so the Cougars can get a taste of big league action though. “It’s a tune up for [the Quakes],” Svadgis said. And the Cougars are not just going into the Epicenter for the experience either. “Every time we step on the fi eld we are playing to win,” Svadgis said.
The Cougars proved this last year when they stunned the Quakes with a 5-4 win, fi nishing the game with fi ve runs in the fi nal inning. The Cougars came into Tuesday’s game with a six-game winning streak, including a doubleheader sweep over Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday, March 29. The Quakes game did not count in the Cougars’ league standings. This allowed the team’s pitching staff to get some well deserved rest.
“There have been a number of injuries,” Cougar baseball athletic trainer Becky Roark said. Still, the Cougars maintain a 27-5 overall record, including an 18-1 record at home, even though they have been plagued by injuries. “We are slowly but surely trying to get healthy,” Roark said. The Quakes allowed the coaches to give the pitching staff some time off and allow the younger pitchers, lower on the depth chart, to get some extra experience on the mound. Svadgis mixed it up on the Quakes, throwing a different pitcher in every inning.
Still, the Quakes came out on top. It was a competitive matchup for the whole nine innings, but the Quakes took advantage of a few Cougar mistakes, including six walks and three errors. The fi rst Quake run came off Cougar sophomore pitcher Aaron Lenz, in the third inning. Quakes left fi elder Cliff Remole came up with two outs and hit a hard ground ball to senior shortstop Matt Venegas.
Venegas dove but could not get a throw off to fi rst. Just when it looked like the Quakes’ Francisco Rosario was caught in a run down third and home, a throw to third and a fi elding error by junior third baseman Ryan Dowell allowed Rosario to slide under the tag at home on Dowell’s throw.
The Quakes struck again in the fourth inning, when they loaded the bases with no outs. Cougar freshman pitcher Don Williams was able to limit the damage by inducing a double play from the Quakes’ Larry Infante, albeit a run scored on the play. He got Anderson Rosario to fl y out on the next pitch. The Cougars came up the next inning down by two runs, but they felt no pressure. They forced the Quakes’ pitcher Tommy Mendoza out of the game and loaded the bases with no outs. Amalio Diaz came in for the Quakes and gave up two runs on a fi elder’s choice by senior shortstop Galen Komo and a sacrifi ce fl y by senior designated hitter Stephen Kohatsu.
Sophomore Cougar pitcher Ian Kelly surrendered two runs to Cliff Remole on a two run double. Remole came back in the next half inning to upset the Cougars yet again. The Cougars loaded the bases again with one out when Kohatsu hit a hard line drive to left fi eld, but Remole made an amazing diving catch to rob Kohatsu of a base hit, and at least one or two RBIs. He turned the catch into an unassisted double play to curb the possible Cougar rally.
The seventh inning rolled around and the Quakes had loaded the bases again with only one out. Infante hit a ground ball and scored Jordan Renz on a fi elder’s choice, but a throwing error by Venegas allowed another run. The Quakes held on to a comfortable 6-2 lead. APU answered back with a run in the eighth inning when junior outfi elder Chris Cooper lined a double down the left fi eld line, passed a diving third baseman and scored junior center fi elder Kirk Nieuwenhuis. This edged the gap between themselves and the Quakes, but APU could not get any closer than a 6-3 loss. “We hit well but with bad consistency,” Nieuwenhuis said. In the end, the Cougars’ efforts were not enough.
“We could’ve won but there were too many walks,” Kohatsu said. “I never like to lose.” Despite the disappointing loss, the Cougars still remain at No. 4 in the NAIA.
