(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College baseball team (47-11) advanced to the Region I, Division II Finals on Friday after sweeping their best-of-three series with Paradise Valley Community College (35-20) in the Semifinal round.
The No. 2 seeded Aztecs defeated the No. 3 seeded Pumas 4-3 after freshman Sean Barta hit a walk-off liner to left field bringing in sophomore Caden Richards. The Aztecs won the first game 9-5 on Thursday.
W – Tomii (5-1). HR: Cereceres,
“He threw me a curveball, I saw it earlier in the at-bat and saw it really well. I knew he was going to go back to it with two strikes. I stayed with my approach and got it done,” Barta said abut his walk-off hit. “It was a competitive game. The boys wanted to be here and we wanted to win more.”
The Aztecs are 17-2 in their last 19 games.
“Coach (Ken) Jacome talks about Game Seven and we just come to every game approaching it like that and the need to win is there when you think about it. Everything goes how it should.”
The Aztecs got on the scoreboard in the 4th inning. Sophomore Nolan Ganter (Pinnacle HS) had Pima’s first hit of the game with one out. Two batters later, sophomore Collin Senior (Horizon HS) hit a shot to center field to score Ganter.
The Pumas tied the game in the top of the 6th inning, but the Aztecs reclaimed the lead in the bottom-half of the inning. Senior and Barta hit back-to-back singles with one out. Freshman Zach Plasschaert loaded the bases with a walk. Freshman Ernie Alvarez (Canyon del Oro HS) made it 2-1 with his sacrifice-fly RBI to plate Senior.
The Pumas took a 3-2 lead in the 7th inning with a two-run RBI double, but the Aztecs tied it in the bottom of the inning when freshman Leon Cereceres hit a lead-off home run to right field.
“I got ahead 2-0 and I was looking for a hitter, looking for my pitch and I got it and I hit it hard. I got it middle-in and I was ready for it,” Cereceres said.
Richards led off the 9th inning by reaching base on an error. Ganter hit a single as both runners got moved into scoring position after freshman Jackson Glueck’s groundout, setting up Barta’s game-winning hit.
Barta finished the game 2 for 3 with an RBI while Cereceres closed it out going 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run. Senior was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run. Richards and Ganter each went 2 for 5 with a run.
Sophomore Tsubasa Tomii picked up the win after he pitched the 9th inning and recorded three outs on seven pitches. Freshman Luis Pablo Navarro (Walden Grove HS) got the start and pitched six innings, giving up one run (one earned) on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks on 96 pitches.
The Aztecs will play the winner of the No. 1 seed South Mountain Community College and No. 4 seed Chandler-Gilbert Community College series. It is tied at 1-1 with the deciding third game taking place on Saturday in Phoenix.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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