DOUGLAS — The Cochise College baseball team claimed the NJCAA Region I championship title Saturday with a 5-1 win over South Mountain behind a complete-game effort by pitcher Steven Naemark.
The Apaches, ranked No. 8 nationally in the latest NJCAA Division I poll, were behind in the three-game series after a loss to South Mountain on Thursday, but a 3-0 win Friday kept hope alive and the victory on Saturday earned No. 2-seeded Cochise its first region title in 24 years.
“We played so hard and I can’t say enough about the job Steven and (Xavier Altamirano) did,” Cochise head coach Todd Inglehart told the Sierra Vista Herald. “I’m so glad they get to experience this and I’m elated I get to be their coach for at least another week.”
Cochise now heads to the Western District championship to compete in a playoff against the top teams from Regions 9 and 18 on May 16-18 in Sterling, Colo. The Apaches face host team Northeastern Junior College at 3 p.m. MST (2 p.m. Arizona time) on Thursday. Watch the game live online at www.ihigh.com/gonjc. The district champion moves on to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
In Friday’s game-two victory, Xavier Altamirano went 6 1/3 innings for the win before Kevin Dorantes came on for the save. Altamirano gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out six in his first-ever collegiate start.
On Saturday, Naemark struck out eight and gave up eight hits while allowing South Mountain a lone earned run in the ninth inning. Cochise scored one in the second, then four in the seventh, with two of those runs coming off a double by Nate Hale. The Apaches also got RBIs from Esteban Bastidas and Stephan Desgagne.