For the fifth straight season the Trojan baseball team mowed down the competition in the Region IX Baseball tournament to claim the title and advance to the district tournament. With wins over Miles, Northeastern and Lamar in this year's tourney, the Trojans have now won 15 straight Region IX Tournament games and five straight titles.
The Trojans got things going quickly in the first game with Miles, jumping out to a 12-0 lead after three innings of work. TSJC went on for the 15-5 win in six innings. Carlo Mancillas had the hot bat for Trinidad, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Eli Sievert picked up his 11th win of the season, striking out four over four innings of work. Northeastern defeated Lamar in the opening round, so the Trojans faced the Plainsmen on day two in the winner's bracket. TSJC produced a big first inning to take a 4-1 lead, and Devin Castro went the distance on the hill to claim the 9-3 win and head to Saturday's title game. Castro struck out seven while only allowing a pair of earned runs. Lamar held off a late charge from Miles to eliminate the Pioneers on Friday evening, and then put on a great display of hitting and pitching to disperse Northeastern 10-0 and claim a spot in the final on Saturday with the Trojans.
In the title game Lamar got a hot start with a leadoff triple to begin the game. That run would score, but the first of many great plays by the Trojan infield, this one a double-play, would stop any further damage in the inning. Catcher Xavier Langlois brought it to 1-1 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Blake Mattey. TSJC would add four in the second off of a pair of two-RBI singles from Alex Bedard and Langlois. Trinidad then added three more in the fifth, off of a two-run single from Ethan Castro and an RBI double of the bat of Lucas Quimby. The Lopes cut the lead to 8-5 in the eighth, but the Trojans would get an insurance run, an RBI single from Langlois on his fourth hit of the game, to make it 9-5. Niko Guzman came in and pitched the ninth to shut the door on Lamar and seal the title for the Trojans. David Gauthier got the win for Trinidad on the hill, while Jeron Petterson and Guzman kept the Lopes scoreless in the final two innings. Following the game, Trojan Coach Matthew Torrez was awarded with his fifth Region IX Coach-of-the-Year award. He is a perfect 15-for-15 in the Region IX tournament since taking the Head Coaching role six years ago.
Eight Trojan athletes were voted onto this year's All-Region team. Outfielders Blake Mattey and Alex Bedard, infielders Conrado Diaz, Carlo Mancillas and Reese Patterson, and pitchers Eli Sievert, Devin Castro and David Gauthier. The Trojans (47-10) will travel to the Western District Tournament this coming weekend. The host site is yet to be determined. The other teams in the district tournament are Arizona Western, the College of Southern Idaho and Salt Lake Community College. Winner of the district tournament will head to the JUCO World Series at the end of May.
You can view the game ending play on our YouTube site at https://youtu.be/t3kCuPam-uo