May 24, 2009

Tigers prepare to face Santa Fe in second round of JUCO World Series

Coming off victories in the first-round of the JUCO World Series Saturday in Grand Junction, Co., two of the hottest teams in the tournament will square off on Monday as the Cowley College Tigers will battle Santa Fe Community College at 3 p.m. central standard time.

The Tigers, winners of 20 of its past 23 games, defeated Seminole State College 11-8 on Saturday to improve to 48-13 on the season. Santa Fe outlasted Middle Georgia College 17-13 in a slugfest. After winning only 21 of its first 38 games, the Saints (33-20) have won 12 of its last 15 contests.

“Both teams have played well lately, every opponent out here is a quality team,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said.

Cowley’s win on Saturday was the first time the Tigers had won a first-round game at the JUCO World Series since 2001. In fact, it was the first time a Region VI school  won a first-round game at the tournament since the Tigers last did.

“It was a huge win for our program and our region in general,” Burroughs said.

Sophomore pitcher Calvin Drinnen (7-0) was one of the heroes in the Tigers’ opening game win as he pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief of starter Alex Schell, who left the game against Seminole with the score tied 5-5 in the second inning.

“He stabilized the game for us and gave us what we needed,” Burroughs said.

The Tiger offense also shined as they had five home runs from five different players. Not to be outdone, Santa Fe also hit five home runs in its win over Middle Georgia. The Saints’ second baseman, Tyler Cook, went 5-for-6 with a home run and three RBI, while Keon Broxton went 2-for-4 with five RBI.

Andy Mee leads Santa Fe at the plate as he is batting .444 with 58 runs batted in.

Cowley’s Ronald Melendez, Mac Gordon, and Andy Petz each finished with two hits and a home run as the Tigers came back from an early 2-0 deficit on Saturday. Gordon’s two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning pushed Cowley’s lead to 11-8. Reliever Trevor Rosenthal made the lead stand up by striking out four in two scoreless innings of relief. The save was Rosenthal’s eighth of the season.

“We showed a lot of grit and character as a team,” Burroughs said. “We’ll be ready for Monday’s game.”
Seminole State and Iowa Western were each eliminated from the JUCO World Series on Sunday.