SOTO'S HOMER IN 9TH LIFTS CANYONS : CANYONS 8, CUESTA 5.Byline: Gerry Gittelson Daily News Staff Writer David Soto would love to have the game ball as a keepsake. Then again, it might be hard to find. Soto's tape-measure home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth lifted College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. to a dramatic 8-5 playoff win over Cuesta cuesta (kwĕs`tə), asymmetric ridge characterized by a short, steep escarpment on one side, and a long, gentle slope on the other. The steep side exposes the edge of erosion-resistant rock layers that form the cuestas. on Saturday at Saddleback College Academics Saddleback College offers a wide range of programs in Advanced Technology and Applied Sciences, including courses in Aviation, Marine Science, Computer Science and Fashion Design. The academics are closely linked to Irvine Valley College, also part of the SOCCCD. . The three-run blast sailed well over the 50-foot protective screen beyond the left-field wall, propelling the Cougars into today's 11 a.m. regional championship game against Cuesta. If Canyons (35-13) loses, a second game will be played immediately afterward. ``What a rocket,'' Canyons coach Len Mohney said. ``Soto's home run is out of any ballpark in America.'' It was Soto's third home run in four playoff games Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship and seventh of the season. ``That's the farthest ball I've ever hit,'' Soto said. The win was even more dramatic than Friday's 9-8 triumph over Saddleback Saddleback see Wessex saddleback. , highlighted by shortstop Hiram Damwijk's game-winning homer in the top of the 12th. Cuesta (40-9) had scored two ninth-inning runs to tie the score at 5 and set the stage for Soto. After Jesse Daggett was intentionally walked, Soto, who last weekend had come through so admirably in a first-round, two-game sweep of Cerritos (going 6 for 8 with five runs), drilled a two-strike offering from Cuesta reliever Nate Taylor (5-2). ``I knew he was coming in with a curveball,'' Soto said. ``He was bound to hang one.'' Soto also keyed Canyons' first rally, singling with one out in the fifth to break up starter Marco Hanlon's no-hitter and spark a three-run spurt spurt Vox populi A surge or abrupt ↑ in the size or speed of a thing. See Fat spurt, Growth spurt. that erased a 3-0 Cuesta lead. Damwijk drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh and later scored to give Canyons a 5-3 lead. Brock brock n. Chiefly British A badger. [Middle English brok, from Old English broc, of Celtic origin.] Benson (5-2) could not hold the lead after relieving Kevin Hyde in the eighth. Still, Hyde (7-2/3 innings, 10 hits, four strikeouts, no walks) had confidence his teammates would pull through. ``We just would not give in,'' Hyde said. ``It was a matter of us believing in ourselves.'' Damwijk said the win was the biggest ever for himself and most of his teammates, but his focus is clearly on the future. ``We really played hard today,'' Damwijk said. ``But our goal is not just to win here. Our goal is to get to the (state) final.'' |
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