Canyon del Oro graduate Andrew Stucky hit a home run with one out in the bottom of the 10th to give Pima College a 9-8 win Thursday over McCook (Neb.) College in the opening round of the NJCAA Division I West District Tournament at Beatrice, Neb.
Stucky’s home run on a breaking ball delivered on an 0-2 count was one of 11 hits for Pima, which will play Salt Lake College (29-17) on Friday at 1 p.m. (Tucson time) in the winners bracket semifinal game.
McCook (37-24) will play host Southeast College (42-17) at 10 a.m. Friday in an elimination game.
“I didn’t even hit it too well, but I was just hoping and praying it would get out,” Stucky (pronounced stew-key) said about his game-winning home run to Pima media relations. “There were a lot of ups and downs. Definitely a rollercoaster of emotions but this just shows that we got a lot of extra chances. We got to play better tomorrow.”
Andrew Stucky hits a walk-off HOMERUN as the Aztecs beat McCook CC 9-8 in 10 innings. #PimaBaseball #AztecTOUGH pic.twitter.com/1i5DyZm7Jj
— PimaAthletics (@PimaAthletics) May 18, 2023
Pima (46-16) led 7-2 going to the eighth inning against McCook behind the pitching of left-hander Matt Cornelius, who allowed only four hits and no earned runs in seven innings. He struck out four and walked two.
“I just trusted my defense; going in there and padding the strike zone and also competing with myself,” Cornelius told Pima media relations. “The coaches told me and the other starters before me, ‘Just compete with yourself. Make this a game on how many strikes you can throw,’ and it worked.
“Great job by (catcher) Joey (Adge) back there mixing the pitches and keeping them off balance. Little hiccups here and there but we did the job. It was definitely nerve-wracking, but Pima U likes to keep it interesting and we came out on top. As long as we got the ‘W.'”
McCook sent its entire lineup to the plate in the eighth and scored five runs to tie the game at 7.
The Indians took an 8-7 lead when Ethan Murdoch scored on a passed ball with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Tucson High graduate Benji Cazares, who earlier had an RBI double, led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and pinch-runner Elijah Reeves (Marana) replaced him at first base.
After a batter flied out and Reeves stole second, Rocco Gump followed with his third double of the game to score Reeves and tie the game at 8.
Rocco Gump ties the game and scores pinch runner Elijah Reeves. Game is knotted at 8-8 T10 #PimaBaseball #AztecTOUGH pic.twitter.com/GNqH690XuS
— PimaAthletics (@PimaAthletics) May 18, 2023
A single by Braedon Mondeau advanced Gump to third base, but the next two batters struck out and flied out to end the inning and force extra innings.
JT Drake, the winning pitcher in relief, retired three of the four batters he faced in the top of the 10.
Stucky then followed with his walk-off home run with one out in the bottom of the 10th, the sixth home run of the season for the ACCAC Region I Player of the Year. It was Stucky’s first hit in five at-bats.
Pima had four players with multiple hits — Gump 3 for 5, Gage Mestes 2 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs, Mondeau 2 for 5 with an RBI and Luis Garcia (Salpointe) 2 for 5 with a run.
The Aztecs are two wins away from reaching their first trip to the NJCAA Division I World Series since 1992.
Andrew Stucky @andrew_stucky_ talks about his WALK-OFF HOMERUN and the “Rollercoaster of Emotions” that comes with a thrilling extra innings victory. #PimaBaseball #AztecTOUGH #WestDistrictTournament pic.twitter.com/jBSS6a8azo
— PimaAthletics (@PimaAthletics) May 19, 2023
Sophomore Matt Cornelius talks about his stellar start (7IP, 2R, 0ER, 4K, 2BB). Being challenged by the coaches and crediting the defense and catcher Joey Adge. #PimaBaseball #AztecTOUGH #PimaU pic.twitter.com/9UEgDAdp4m
— PimaAthletics (@PimaAthletics) May 19, 2023
NJCAA DIVISION I WEST DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
Beatrice, Neb.
Thursday
Game 1 — Pima 9, McCook 8 (10 innings)
·Game 2 — Salt Lake 13, Southeast 3 (7 innings)
Friday
Game 3 — Southeast 25, McCook 10 (7 innings) McCook eliminated
1:00 p.m. – (Game 4) Pima vs. Salt Lake
5 p.m. – (Game 5) Southeast vs. L4
Saturday
10 a.m. – (Game 6) Championship Game
30 minutes after – (Game 7) If necessary
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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