Coyotes gain tournament berth

Greg Webb
sports@weatherforddemocrat.com

May 05, 2008 03:06 pm

— For the second time since Weatherford College began fielding a baseball team, the Coyotes are headed to postseason play by virtue of their four-game sweep of Ranger College, concluded by the double-header wins at Roger Williams Ballpark Saturday.
WC enters the National Junior College Athletic Association Region V tournament at Lubbock Christian University, Sunday. The Coyotes, as the fourth place team in the North Texas division of Region V, are slated to play the first place team of the Western division. The current scheduled time for the contest is 8 p.m. The double elimination format tourney lasts through Wednesday, with a Thursday game to be played for the championship, if necessary.
After two and a half innings of Saturday’s first game with the Rangers, the outlook was less than brilliant as the Coyotes found themselves seven runs down.
Of late, the WC offense has had little trouble putting runners across the plate. The Coyotes continued the trend in the bottom of the third, catching and passing Ranger with 10 runs in the inning. The offensive barrage, as well as Weatherford starting pitcher Josh Turner’s replenished confidence on the mound, broke the back of the Ranger’s previously productive offense, as Ranger managed only one more run through the contest, as Weatherford won the first game, 14-8. Turner, capturing his ninth win of the season, tied a school record in recording the victory.
WC’s offense was led in the first game by center fielder Garrett Smith, who went 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run and scored three times, and by Paul Montalbano, who started in left field. Montalbano, performing pitching duties almost exclusively for most of the season, had three hits in four trips to the plate, with a double and three runs scored. Brett Kazmierski also had a pair of hits, one of those a triple that scored teammate Trey Crain from first base.
The second game saw more of the same prolific Coyotes offense getting to four Ranger pitchers. Winning by a score of 12-4, WC has scored a total of 57 runs in the last four games.
Kazmierski led the way in the follow-up game, hitting safely three times, with a two-run homer in the sixth. The WC right fielder also crossed the plate three times. Catcher Jeff Taliaferro had a pair of hits, both of them for extra bases. Taliaferro notched an RBI in the second with a triple and hit a leadoff double in the seventh.
Coyotes pitcher Bryan Dixon started on the mound for Weatherford, pitching a solid six and a third innings before being relieved by Hugh Sullivan, who finished out the game. Dixon recorded seven strikeouts, while giving up two earned runs on four hits.
WC looks to continue the offensive production they have enjoyed of late, as they head into the NJCAA tournament Sunday. The Coyotes finish the regular season with a conference record of 18-14.

Weatherford College 14, Ranger College 8 (Game 1)
RC 205 000 1 — 8 12 0
WC 0010 112 X — 14 15 0
Wingo, Richards (3) and Manzano; Turner and Taliaferro. WP — Turner; LP — Wingo. HR — (WC) Smith. 3B — (WC) Kazmierski. 2B — (WC) Elliott, Montalbano.

Weatherford College 12, Ranger College 4 (Game 2)
RC 011 000 101 — 4 7 3
WC 035 002 02X — 12 14 1
Villareal, Richards (3), Melvin (8), Floyd (8) and Manzano; Dixon, Sullivan(7) and Taliaferro. WP — Dixon; LP — Villareal. HR — (WC) Kazmierski; (RC) none. 3B — (WC) Taliaferro; (RC) Collazo 2. 2B — (WC) Taliaferro; (RC) Hernadez.