Lack of hitting, pitching and defense buried the baseball team into a hole that resulted in a 13-1 home loss to Laney College Saturday afternoon.
The Comets (3-10 overall, 0-2 in the Bay Valley Conference) made minor mistakes and gave up too many hits, including two home runs in the eighth inning, giving the Eagles (8-5 overall, 2-0 in the Bay Valley Conference) a comfortable lead to close the game.
“We need to improve our pitching,” Comet coach Marvin Webb said. “We won’t win if we don’t have the mental attitude to work hard. To prepare for next game, we’re going to get out there and practice harder.”
Contra Costa College will look to rebound from Saturday’s loss in conference play against the College of Marin (5-7, 2-0 in the Bay Valley Conference) at home Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
“We just need to cut down on our errors,” Comet outfielder Javan Williams said. “We need to put the ball in play and get some hits.”
With both teams playing well in the first three innings, the fourth inning proved to be the turning point of the game, as Laney began to pile up hits.
The Comets could not keep with the Eagles’ pace, as they struggled to get on base or score runs.
In the fourth inning, Laney was able to get on the board with a two-RBI double, hit by infielder Deante Bernstine, bringing home catcher Niko Sotolongo and infielder Xzavier Garcia.
After infielder Alberto Gonzalez was walked, Williams made an error that let infielder John Dunn get on base and Bernstine score.
Also in the inning, Eagle infielder Nick Navarro hit a two-RBI double of his own, bringing Gonzalez and Dunn home.
The Comets’ highlights of the inning were infielder Ronald Morris and Williams’ base hits, but they were unable to capitalize, as they left both runners on base to end the inning down 5-0.
“We were unable to follow our game plan today, which was pitch well and play good defense,” coach Webb said.
After a scoreless fifth inning for both teams, CCC was able to get its only run with outfielder Donnie Hagan’s RBI basehit to bring home Williams, who also had a double and a stolen base earlier in the sixth inning.
That was the only scored run for the Comets, however, the Eagles began to roll again.
Laney scored three runs in the seventh inning, as outfielders Abel Alcantar and Garcia were able to bring runs home.
CCC was still unable to generate any strong offense, defense or pitching in the inning.
In the eighth inning, Laney continued to pile on the runs, as outfielder Brandon Traylor and Garcia hit back-to-back home runs.
The Comets were again unable to add runs to the board, as their eighth inning was over after an Eagles’ double play.
The ninth inning was short, as both teams were done after four batters, leaving the score 13-1 to end the game.
Contact Tristin Cooper at tcooper.advocate@gmail.com
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