By ED PETRUSKA Contributing Writer Pinal Central

SIGNAL PEAK – There was nothing out of the ordinary for the Central Arizona College baseball team in Tuesday's 4-1 victory over GateWay at McSwain Field.

The second-ranked Vaqueros relied on their bread and butter – outstanding pitching, error-free defense and timely hitting to raise their record to 21-4 overall and 10-3 in Arizona Community College Athletic Conference play. They came into the game with an ACCAC-best team ERA of 2.74 and a .974 fielding percentage – also tops in the conference.

"It's something that we as a program pride ourselves on – our pitching and our defense," CAC assistant coach Joe Perez said. "That wins championships. If you can throw strikes and catch, you're going to win a lot of ballgames."

Shane Spencer and Sam Rochard combined to limit the Geckos (10-13, 7-5 ACCAC) to three hits. Dusty Garcia drilled a two-run homer in the second inning to put Central up 2-0, and Tyrese Johnson's two-run single in the fourth capped the Central scoring. The Vaqueros finished with nine hits, getting two apiece from Garcia and Trey Newman.

Dusty Garcia homerun (#5 center) Tuesday afternoon. Photo Maria Vasquez Pinal Central

"We didn't quite capitalize and score as much as we wanted to, but we got our hits and took advantage when we had runners in scoring position," Perez said.

Garcia doubled leading off the fourth. Ashtin Webb singled and GateWay starter Logan Martin walked Chase Valentine to load the bases before Johnson came through with a one-out single to center to extend CAC's lead to 4-1.

Spencer (4-0) struck out nine and walked none in 6 2/3 innings. The only hits off the right-hander were a single and a triple by leadoff batter Treston Shallenberger and Dylan Fesperman's double. Following Shallenberger's fourth-inning triple, Braedon Stoakes drove him in with a groundout.

Spencer picked off Shallenberger in the first after Shallenberger singled on the game's first pitch. Fesperman was stranded at third after doubling with one out in the fourth and advancing on a wild pitch.

"Anytime we have Shane on the mound, we feel like we have a really good shot," Perez said. "Our pitching staff up and down always keeps us in the game at the very least and more often than not puts us in a good position to win."

Rochard retired seven of the eight batters he faced in notching his second save, striking out three. The only batter to reach against him was pinch hitter Diego Alvarado, who drew a leadoff walk in the ninth.

The Vaqueros left seven runners aboard, three in scoring position.

Former San Tan Foothills athlete Frankie Gulko pitched the eighth for GateWay, setting down CAC in order while striking out one. Micky Scheetz worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings after replacing Martin.

The Vaqueros will play another single game against GateWay on Wednesday at Gene Autry Park in Mesa.

"GateWay is never out of it," Perez said. "They're very scrappy. We have to bring it tomorrow and finish the deal."