Thunderbirds Show Grit Against (#1) Central Arizona
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Arizona College | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 2 |
| Mesa Community College | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
Central Arizona College
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Central Arizona College | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 0 |
Mesa Community College
Central Arizona College
Saturday, April 2, 2022 - 3:50 pm | Derek Diesner
Mesa, AZ - The Mesa Thunderbirds had a daunting task this past weekend; do battle with #1 ranked Central Arizona. The T-Birds dropped their Friday game in Coolidge by a final of 12-1 in 8-innings. On Saturday, it was a different story! Mesa hung with the Vaqueros all game, falling late 6-3.
With the losses, Mesa falls to 19-19 overall and 8-16 in ACCAC action. With the pair of victories, the #1 ranked; in the latest NJCAA DI Baseball National Poll, Central Arizona Vaqueros improve to 37-4 overall and 21-3 in ACCAC play.
Friday (4/1) @ (#1) Central Arizona:
On Friday afternoon, the Vaqueros defended their home turf well. Following a scoreless first inning, Central attacked for five runs in the bottom of the second inning and never looked back.
Mesa scored their run in the top of the fifth inning to make the game 9-1 on an RBI single by catcher Chase Burke; which scored Dawson Baracani.
Saturday (4/2) vs (#1) Central Arizona:
Saturday afternoon the T-Birds quickly turned the page and flipped the script on the Vaqueros. This time Mesa attacked first in the bottom of the second inning, scoring twice to take the early 2-0 advantage. Following a leadoff single by Dean Bittner, Cade Malone would double deep to the right-center gap scoring Bittner all the way from first. Two batters later, Dawson Barcani put down a textbook sacrifice squeeze bunt between the third baseman, catcher, and pitcher to score Malone from third.
Central would respond with a run of their own in the top of the third inning, to draw within one of the T-Birds. The Vaqueros took the lead for good following a four-run fifth inning. In the top of the fifth, the Vaqueros' offense flexed their muscles, striking for two homeruns, a triple, and a single.
Mesa would tack on one more run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth off the bat of Dean Bittner, but it wasn't enough in the 6-3 loss.
Ayden Alger got off to a fantastic start for the T-Birds on the bump and Colton Vercoe was solid in relief of Alger. Vercoe tossed the final 4.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
The Thunderbirds are next in action this Tuesday when they host Cochise College for an ACCAC doubleheader beginning at 12 Noon. You can catch both games live by visiting: https://mesatbirdsports.com/live.
Don't forget to check out the MCC Team Shop, as well as our Booster Club.