DOUGLAS — The Cochise College baseball team beat South Mountain on Friday and Saturday in the NJCAA Region I Division I semifinal to win the best-of-three series and move on to the region championship series against Yavapai College.
With Cochise as the region’s top seed, the games will be played on the Douglas Campus at 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday and at noon Saturday, if necessary. The region winner moves on to the Western District Championship hosted by the Region 18 winner.
The Apaches lost the first game against South Mountain on Thursday 5-4, but bounced back to win game two on Friday 6-2 and game three on Saturday 11-4.
On Saturday, starter Nick Borowski earned the win, going the first four innings and allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk. Adam De La Cruz came on in relief and Kade Wagner went the last 2 2/3 innings.
South Mountain scored three in the top of the first and Cochise answered with two in the bottom of the inning, three more in the fourth and four in the sixth. The Cougars scored another in the top of the seventh on a solo home run, and the Apaches plated two in the bottom of the inning on a two-run home run by Nate Stepna. Sean DeSoto was 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and Charlie Ameer was 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Jordon West pitched the complete game on Friday, allowing two runs on eight hits and seven walks while striking out seven. Stepna and DeSoto were each 2 for 4 with an RBI and Borowski was 2 for 3, including a triple, with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
On Thursday, Cochise gave up five runs in the first three innings and couldn’t recover. Louis Boyd was 2 for 5, Darick Hall was 2 for 2 before leaving the game with an injury, and Dan Hetzel was 3 for 4.
Admission to the region championship games is $5 for adults, $3 for kids and free for kids under 5. Cochise College students get in free with an ID. All games will be broadcast on KDAP 96.5 FM in Douglas.