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Taft College leadoff batter Chase Skinner put his mark in the scorebook time and again as the Cougars won two out of three games in their mini-tournament with College of the Siskiyous and Barstow College.
Skinner went 8-for-14 with a triple and two doubles, scored seven runs, drove in two runs, and stole four bases – including home. He had a total of 12 bases.
The Cougars split with Siskiyous – winning 9-5 on Thursday and losing 7-6 on Friday before finishing things out with an 8-0 win over Barstow Saturday behind Allan Sanchez’s complete-game two-hit shutout.
Sophomore first baseman Forrest Smith went 4-for-11 with a double and three-run homer to drive in six runs.
Skinner – the smallest player on the team at 5-6, 165 – transferred to TC from Cerro Coso College in Ridgecrest after playing at Legacy High in Las Vegas.
His big series boosted his batting average to .468 and hiked his number of stolen bases to seven.
Smith is hitting .350 and leads the team with two homers and eight runs batted in.
Sanchez, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound sophomore right-hander from Puerto Rico, has 16 strikeouts in 15 innings of work and has not walked a batter. With the shutout of Barstow he lowered his earned run average to 0.60.
He delivered 72.6 percent of his 106 pitches in the strike zone.
TC had 30 hits in the series and came close to a sweep were it not for the one-run loss in the second game.
The Cougars trailed from the start after Siskiyous roughed up starter Cole Bryant, who gave up five runs (three earned) on six hits in two and a third innings.
TC trailed 6-3 heading into the seventh when Smith evened the score with his line drive, three-run dinger over the 343 sign in right field. On the previous pitch, he socked one out that was barely foul.
But Siskiyous scored in the top of the eighth to pull out the win.
P.J. Matha and Matt Gunderson pitched well in relief, each giving up an earned run.
Skinner and Smith had three hits apiece in the series opener and Corey Gilligan got the win, working seven innings. He gave up one earned run on six hits, struck out five and walked two.
Luis Trinidad went 4-for-8 in the series and scored a run. Anthony Uran had a double and two singles and stole three bases. Cougar runners swiped 11 in all.
The Cougars, who are 2-4 in the non-conference grind, will be in Monterey Friday and Saturday. They’ll play Lassen (2-4) twice – at 2 on Friday and 10:30 a.m. Saturday – and Monterey Peninsula (3-0) at 2 on Saturday.
Fans can follow Cougar games on the Internet over Gamechanger, which provides live pitch-by-pitch coverage.
To sign up for the service, visit Gamechanger.io. The fee is $7.99 a month or $33.99 for a year.
Taft College leadoff batter Chase Skinner put his mark in the scorebook time and again as the Cougars won two out of three games in their mini-tournament with College of the Siskiyous and Barstow College.
Skinner went 8-for-14 with a triple and two doubles, scored seven runs, drove in two runs, and stole four bases – including home. He had a total of 12 bases.
The Cougars split with Siskiyous – winning 9-5 on Thursday and losing 7-6 on Friday before finishing things out with an 8-0 win over Barstow Saturday behind Allan Sanchez’s complete-game two-hit shutout.
Sophomore first baseman Forrest Smith went 4-for-11 with a double and three-run homer to drive in six runs.
Skinner – the smallest player on the team at 5-6, 165 – transferred to TC from Cerro Coso College in Ridgecrest after playing at Legacy High in Las Vegas.
His big series boosted his batting average to .468 and hiked his number of stolen bases to seven.
Smith is hitting .350 and leads the team with two homers and eight runs batted in.
Sanchez, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound sophomore right-hander from Puerto Rico, has 16 strikeouts in 15 innings of work and has not walked a batter. With the shutout of Barstow he lowered his earned run average to 0.60.
He delivered 72.6 percent of his 106 pitches in the strike zone.
TC had 30 hits in the series and came close to a sweep were it not for the one-run loss in the second game.
The Cougars trailed from the start after Siskiyous roughed up starter Cole Bryant, who gave up five runs (three earned) on six hits in two and a third innings.
TC trailed 6-3 heading into the seventh when Smith evened the score with his line drive, three-run dinger over the 343 sign in right field. On the previous pitch, he socked one out that was barely foul.
But Siskiyous scored in the top of the eighth to pull out the win.
P.J. Matha and Matt Gunderson pitched well in relief, each giving up an earned run.
Skinner and Smith had three hits apiece in the series opener and Corey Gilligan got the win, working seven innings. He gave up one earned run on six hits, struck out five and walked two.
Luis Trinidad went 4-for-8 in the series and scored a run. Anthony Uran had a double and two singles and stole three bases. Cougar runners swiped 11 in all.
The Cougars, who are 2-4 in the non-conference grind, will be in Monterey Friday and Saturday. They’ll play Lassen (2-4) twice – at 2 on Friday and 10:30 a.m. Saturday – and Monterey Peninsula (3-0) at 2 on Saturday.
Fans can follow Cougar games on the Internet over Gamechanger, which provides live pitch-by-pitch coverage.
To sign up for the service, visit Gamechanger.io. The fee is $7.99 a month or $33.99 for a year.
