A tough and at times frustrating 2021Taft College baseball season finally came to a close on Friday. But the resilient Cougars ended it on a positive note, holding on for a 9-6 win at Merced College in the final game of a Central Valley Conference doubleheader. Earlier in the day, Merced took the opener by a final score of 6-3.
Despite a 3-25 final overall record, Taft went out winning two of its final three games. The Cougars were 3-21 in conference play.
A five-run, fourth-inning propelled the Cougars to the Game 2 victory. Damien Holmes' bases-clearing single was the big blow. Holmes later came in to score on a passed ball and Julian DeLeon drove in R.J. Munoz with a single to account for the big rally.
Taft scored single runs in the first, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, including a solo home run by Chris Scherbarth that gave the Cougars an 8-1 lead in the sixth.
After allowing a pair of hits and a run in the bottom of the first, Taft starting pitcher Jordan Eldred was cruising. He kept Merced off the board until running out of gas in the sixth. A pair of singles, a double, and a three-run home run got Merced back in the game and cut the TC lead to 8-5.
But Blake Logan was able to close out the victory for Taft, tossing the final two innings of the seven-inning doubleheader contest.
Eldred also helped his own cause at the plate, going 2 for 2 with a run and RBI. Scherbarth (2 for 4, 2 R, RBI) and Luis DeLeon (2 for 2, 2 R) all had two hits for the Cougars while Julian DeLeon drove in a pair of runs.
Taft totaled just five hits in Friday's seven-inning opener. Three of those hits came in the top of the first and led to an early 3-0 Cougar lead.
Andres Garza led off with a single and two batters later came in to score on a Christian Wilson single. A double by Chris Ortega moved Wilson to third before he came home on a Merced passed ball. Munoz followed that with an RBI ground out to bring in Ortega. But that would be all for the Cougars.
Jarod Lucas pitched well in the three-inning start for Taft. He allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits while striking out five. Merced rallied for three runs in the fifth that proved to the difference.
Wilson and Ortega both went 2 for 3 to lead the Cougars' offense.