(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert baseball team had its season come to a close as they lost two games on the first day of the California Pacific Conference baseball tournament at Hohokam Stadium. The Buccaneers lost the first game of the tournament to Westcliff 6-3 and then lost the elimination game at the end of the game to Simpson 13-3.
The Buccaneers finish the season 20-26 with a California Pacific Conference record of 10-10.
Mistakes were costly as Buc miscues led to four of the Warriors six runs being scored and diminished a strong performance on the mound from Junior Flores.
In the bottom of the first with two runners on via hit by pitch and two outs, Flores was able to get what seemed to be a routine pop up in shallow centerfield which would get him out of the inning. But miscommunication between shortstop Brendan Blakeman, second baseman Matthew Seibold and center fielder Caleb Rozier led to the ball falling between them and it allowed both runners who were running hard with two outs to score.
In the second, a single to right field which scored the third run, turned into a four base error as the ball got under the glove of right fielder Jesh Leckey and the hitter came all the way around to score to make it 4-0.
The Bucs cut the lead in half on an RBI double from Andrew Allanson and a single by Nick Millerto score Will Fleece running for Allanson.
In the fifth, the Warriors got their first runner on via an error who then scored on a single.
The Bucs scored its final run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Gino Caperon .
Connor Hommes led the team with three hits and Diego Bejarano had two.
Simpson scored 10 runs in the first two innings and cruised to a run rule victory in eight innings.
With two outs, a ground ball was misplayed in the infield and then a fly ball was misjudged in the outfield which led to the first run being scored on starter Trey Langan. A wild pitch followed which allowed the second run to score. A dropped fly ball allowed the inning to continue and a double drove home the third run in the inning.
The game was broken open in the second when Simpson scored seven runs and then they tacked on one more in the third to make the score 11-0.
The Bucs cut into the lead with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth. But that is all they would get. Adrian Gamez and DJ Martin kept the Red Hawk bats in check for 4.1 innings, but Simpson got their last two runs in the seventh and eighth innings to increase its lead to 10 runs and end the game on a run rule.
Rozier had three hits and Bejarano finished his Buccaneer career with a three-hit game and five total hits on the day.
The Bucs now head into the offseason with hopes high as they move into a new conference next season with a core of talented players returning and a strong recruiting class coming in.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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