By Brendan Hamilton / Photo by Rachel Sasi
TAFT, CA – Game 1 of the 2024 3C2A Baseball playoffs saw the 20th ranked Taft College Cougars square up against 5th ranked team in NorCal the San Joaquin Delta Mustangs. Delta set the tone early for the weekend, scoring 3 runs in the first inning and 2 in the second. Taft answered back putting up 6 runs in the top of the third to jump out to a 6-5 lead. The Mustang offense could not be stopped and an 11-run bottom of the third made the score 16-6. Taft scored 3 runs in the top of the fourth to provide some resistance, but the offense stalled there, and Delta took full advantage.
Delta would go on to put up 4 and 5 runs in the sixth and seventh, respectively, to garner a 25-9 lead. Taft scored a run in the ninth to make the final score 25-10.
After a game one that did not go as planned, the Cougars went toe to toe with Delta again for the second time in two days. Delta carried the momentum from game one into game two, scoring a run in the first inning. They then put up 3 runs in the second, 1 in the third, and 6 in the fourth, and 16 in the fifth. Taft scored a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Mustangs were simply too much to handle for the Cougar pitching staff.
Delta scored a total of 32 runs in game two to beat the Cougars 32-2. Karsen Spradling drove in the last run of the Cougars' season and made some nice plays in right field.
Taft College Head Baseball Coach Vince Maiocco commented on the season, "We got beat by a superior opponent in Delta College. They might be the most impressive Juco hitting team I've ever seen in my 30+ years of coaching. With that said, that does not diminish our accomplishments attained this season. Beating CVC heavyweights Fresno City College and College of the Sequoias three times in the same season is something this program has never done. The Cougar baseball program is definitely trending upward."
