The Pima Community College baseball team will now await its fate as a potential at-large team in the NJCAA Division II World Series after losing two straight Region I, Division II championship series games to South Mountain in Phoenix on Thursday and Friday.
The No. 2 Aztecs (47-13) lost the second game of the best-of-three series by a score of 11-6 on Friday against No. 1 South Mountain (45-16). Pima lost the first game 9-1 in seven innings Thursday.
The NJCAA Division II World Series selection show on the NJCAA Network is Tuesday, May 20 at 1 p.m., Tucson time. Ten district champions automatically qualify and two teams are included as at-large participants.
The World Series begins May 24 at Enid, Okla.
Pima’s opportunity for an at-large spot is promising since the Aztecs were the No. 6 team in the nation in the last rankings before the district tournaments began.
In Friday’s loss to South Mountain, Pima trailed 5-0 after the Cougars had three runs in the first inning and two runs in the third.
The Aztecs got on the board in the fourth inning when sophomore Nolan Ganter was hit by a pitch and freshman Jackson Glueck followed with a two-run shot to right field that cleared the fence.
Pima took advantage of two South Mountain errors in the fifth inning.
Freshman Ramon Martinez and Ganter reached on errors and sophomore Caden Richards drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Glueck came through with an RBI single to right field, bringing in Martinez and Richards. Sophomore Collin Senior tied the game at 5 with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Ganter.
The Cougars retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with two runs to make it 7-5.
Richards opened the seventh inning with a single but was called out at second base after Ganter’s fielder’s choice. With two outs, Ganter scored after Senior reached on an error. The Aztecs left two runners on base in each the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. They left a total of 11 on base for the game.
Glueck finished 2 for 5 with four RBIs and a run while Senior was 1 for 3 with an RBI. Richards went 1 for 3 with a run. Ganter scored three runs and freshman Sean Barta (an Arizona signee) finished 1 for 3 with two walks.
Freshman Sal Valenzuela (Nogales) took the loss in a relief appearance as he pitched two innings, giving up two runs on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks on 60 pitches.
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