Wylan Nelson battled through eight innings on the mound, and the SBCC offense came up with timely hits as the Vaqueros pulled away for an 8-3 victory over rival Allan Hancock, punching their ticket to the SoCal Regional Finals.
After defeating the Bulldogs 10-9 on Thursday in the first game of the SoCal Super Regional, SBCC eliminated its Western State Conference rival with a lights-out performance on Friday.
“I think we were pretty confident going into it, and I know that our guys were really motivated and knew that if we got out of the Riverside Regional and if (Allan Hancock) took care of its side, we would match up with them,” said SBCC coach Jeff Walker. “The pitching was good, we got some timely hitting, and we’re a pretty confident group.”
Hancock scored the game’s first run in the top of the first inning, taking its only lead of the contest. The Vaqueros responded in the bottom half after an error with two outs extended the inning. A single, a hit batter, and a bases-loaded walk set the stage for Parker Hellekson, who delivered a two-run double to give the Vaqueros a 3-1 advantage.
Hancock tied the game in the third inning on a two-run home run, but the Vaqueros regained the lead later in the inning. After another defensive error by Hancock, Damos Deworken drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.
Starting pitcher Nelson settled in after the third inning, retiring eight consecutive batters at one point. He allowed only four hits — all singles — over the remainder of his outing.
“He is just a tough big game pitcher for us,” said Walker of Nelson, who was named Western State Conference Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year. “He kind of had the same thing happen the week before at Riverside. You score early on him and you better get him early because he’s not going to allow anything after that.”
The Vaqueros added to their lead in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly from Lucas Carlisle, an RBI single by Bradley Cekada, and another two-out Hancock error that prolonged the inning. William Matuszak contributed an RBI single in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 8-3.
Nelson closed his performance by striking out the side in the eighth inning before Drew Cappel recorded the final three outs in relief to secure the win.
With the victory, the Vaqueros advanced to the regional finals and remain one of eight teams still competing in the state postseason. They will travel to face Southern California No. 1 seed Palomar in a best-of-three series beginning Friday, May 15. The series winner will advance to the state championship tournament in Irvine the following weekend.
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