STERLING, Colo. — After a 24-hour rain delay, the Cochise College baseball team scored 10 runs in the resumed-fourth inning Sunday on its way to an 18-11 victory over Western Nevada to win the NJCAA Western District Championship and earn a trip to the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
Sophomore Tagg Duce hit two home runs and the Apaches piled on runs in nearly every inning behind Xavier Altamirano on the mound to lead Cochise to its first trip to the World Series since 1989. The Apaches will face Neosho County (Kan.) Community College, the Central District winner, on Sunday, May 26, in the first round of the bracket.
The Apaches went into Saturday with two chances to beat Western Nevada for the title. Cochise dropped the first opportunity that afternoon with a 5-4 loss, its first in the double-elimination tournament. The Apaches were on top 4-2 in the fifth, but Western Nevada tied it in the sixth, took the lead in the seventh and quickly squashed a two-out Cochise rally attempt in the ninth.
A half hour later, the teams were on the field for game 7, the “if necessary” title game. Western Nevada went up 3-0 by the second inning. Cochise plated two of their own, and the score was 3-2 in the fourth, with Cochise at the plate with two runners on and none out, when lighting suspended the game until Sunday. The game was scheduled to resume late morning Arizona time, but storms continued to push the game time back until play finally started at 3 p.m. Arizona time.
Cochise faces Neosho at 7:30 p.m. MST (6:30 p.m. Arizona time) on Sunday. Click here to view live streaming links.