Cypress Chargers outlast Cuesta Cougars 22-14 in spring break tournament game

It would have been easy for the Cuesta College baseball team to roll over Tuesday afternoon when third-ranked Cypress scored four times in the first inning.

The early outburst proved to be a sign of things to come in a game that featured a week’s worth of offensive performances pushed into one four-hour contest. Though the Cougars answered with a 10-run first inning of their own, there would be no slowing the Chargers’ offense.

Cypress pounded out 24 hits, scoring at least one run in every inning except the third, on its way to a wild 22-14 nonconference victory in the opening round of the Hancock/Cuesta Spring Break Tournament at Cuesta Field.

“They like to compete, and that’s been a trend that we’ve shown all year,” 14th-year Cuesta head coach Bob Miller said. “We’ve had a couple moments where maybe we were a little bit dead, but we’ve competed hard for the nine innings for the most part. I’m proud of the effort.”

The Cougars (13-9) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end despite an impressive performance offensively. They tallied 17 hits, including three apiece from center fielder Dustin Miller and shortstop Garrett Giovannelli.

First baseman Hunter Reade and catcher Nate Javine drove in three runs each for Cuesta, which will host Fresno at 1 p.m. Thursday.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but there’s been a lot of games where we’ve battled and played some good ball,” said Giovannelli, a San Luis Obispo High graduate. “But there’s been a lot of games that we’ve learned from, like this loss today.”

Giovannelli earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman last spring and he’s continued to be one of the Cougars’ most productive players. He leads the team in hits (32), doubles (six), RBI (20) and stolen bases (six).

Both Giovannelli and Miller admitted Cuesta needs to be more consistent defensively.

The Cougars committed six errors in Tuesday’s loss, while Cypress (16-3) had four fielding miscues of its own. For the season, Cuesta has committed multiple errors in a game 12 times, including eight contests with at least three errors.

“If we’re going to be a championship type team in the conference,” Miller said, “we’re going to have to play that consistent defense.”

Cuesta and Cypress combined to use 13 pitchers, with Andrew Queza earning the victory for the Chargers and Louis Raymond taking the loss.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Cypress Chargers outlast Cuesta Cougars 22-14 in spring break tournament game."