MESA – Just 11 days ago, the Cochise College baseball team was on the ropes. Losers of five straight and 11 of their last 12, the Apaches were in danger of falling out of the playoff picture early.
Then, on March 10, the Apaches captured the second game of a doubleheader and proceeded to win five of six at the Phoenix Area Juco Spring Classic to climb back to .500 overall.
On Tuesday, they kept up that momentum in returning to conference play, sweeping a doubleheader at Mesa Community College.
Jacob Potts allowed just two hits in seven innings in a 6-3 win over the Thunderbirds in the opener.
Sophomore Jesus Urbina, who went 5 for 8 on the day, went 3 for 4 in the opener, knocking in two RBIs and scoring the go-ahead run in the fourth on a base hit by Zach Nance.
In the second game, the Apaches rode the dominant pitching of Frank Salas, who took a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning. He left with a 3-2 lead, having allowed two hits and seven walks while striking out five. Braulio Hernandez went the next inning-and-a-third before giving way to Zach Rodgers, who inherited a bases-loaded, one-out mess in the ninth, but retired the last two batters to preserve a 4-2 win.
It was again Urbina who set the tone for the Apache offense. His double in the fourth was followed by an RBI single from Rodgers and an RBI double by Nelson. Cochise got what proved to be the deciding run in the seventh when Max LeFevre, who went 3 for 5 with three stolen bases, hit one of his two doubles to drive in Jason Parks.
The win marked the 10th straight game Cochise pitchers have held opponents to four runs or less.