Ed Petruska-Pinal Central

SIGNAL PEAK – The Central Arizona College baseball team's 28-game winning streak came to an end on Tuesday, and former Vista Grande High School standout Marco Ozuna played a huge role for Cochise in its 5-2 victory over the second-ranked Vaqueros in the opener of a doubleheader at McSwain Field.

CAC returned to the victory column in Game 2, posting a 12-2 victory. That game ended in the eighth inning under the 10-run rule.

Ozuna limited CAC to four hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight and walking three.

"Every time we play against them, I pitch with a chip on my shoulder," the sophomore right-hander said.

CAC recruited Ozuna, but only as a walk-on player.

"If my hometown team doesn't want me, I'll go play against them," Ozuna said. "Every time we play, there's a little extra fire inside me. But all that matters is we got the win. That's what I'm happy about."

Ozuna (4-1) kept the Vaqueros (40-6 overall, 27-3 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) off the board until Central put up two runs in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Apaches (30-16, 14-14 ACCAC) answered with three in the sixth and one in the seventh to hand CAC its first loss since Feb. 22 (5-1 at South Mountain).

Ozuna, the 2022 ACCAC pitcher of the year, came into the game with a 1.56 ERA, 51 strikeouts and nine walks in 40 1/3 innings pitched.

"I really trusted my slider," he said. "That's my go-to pitch. When a team is aggressive as Central, you don't have to throw strikes all the time."

After losing 3-2 to CAC in 15 innings in the decisive Game 3 of last year's Division I Region 1 championship series, the sixth-place Apaches are in danger of missing the four-team playoffs this season.

"Everybody knows what's at stake," Ozuna said. "We came in fearless because we have nothing to lose."

Cochise took a 1-0 lead in the second when Mathis Meurant led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a flyout to center before coming home on Ruben Villaescusa's infield hit.

Jonathon Hernandez doubled for the Vaqueros in the first and fourth innings, but was stranded both times. Ozuna got a strikeout to end the first. After Hernandez moved to third on a groundout in the third, Ozuna struck out the next two batters.

Following walks to Fisher Pyatt and Ashtin Webb in the CAC fifth, Blake Avila drove in both runners with a two-out double down the right-field line.

The lead did not last long. Central starter Theo Millas (8-2) gave up a leadoff single to Christian Olea in the sixth, then hit Dylan Bradford. Millas was replaced by Michael Trausch after striking out Makai DeSoto.

Villaescusa's groundout put runners at second and third. Gerardo Hernandez drove in the tying run with an infield single to second, and Bradford continued home on a wild throw to first for the go-ahead run. Hernandez later scored on a wild pitch to give the Apaches a 4-2 lead.

Bradford's sacrifice fly in the seventh provided Cochise with an insurance run.

After Ozuna departed, Mathis Lacombe came on to retire four of the five batters he faced, ending the seven-inning game with a strikeout.

The Vaqueros accumulated 13 hits in Game 2, scoring one run in the first inning, two in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead, four in the seventh and five in the eighth.

"I thought it was important to have a response," CAC coach Anthony Gilich said. "I was proud of the guys the way they bounced back. It was obviously disappointing to get beat in Game 1 but Game 2 was equally important. I encouraged the guys to be themselves and it was a real important win for our season."

Tommy Brandenburg (6-2) went six innings to register the win. The right-hander allowed one run (unearned) and four hits, struck out 13 and walked two.

Daniel Davila pitched the seventh and the eighth to notch his second save, giving up one run and two hits. He struck out one and walked none.

Tyrese Johnson, Avila, Hernandez, Marcus Harrison and DJ Massey each had two hits for the Vaqueros, with Massey getting two doubles. Harrison had a triple and Johnson had a double.

CAC went ahead to stay in the sixth on Harrison's RBI single. The second run of the inning scored when Webb was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The four-run seventh featured RBI singles by Hernandez and Lou Albrecht and Harrison's sacrifice fly.

In the eighth, Johnson had a two-run single, Hernandez had an RBI double, Albrecht drew a bases-loaded walk and Hunter Pyatt ended the game with a two-out RBI single.

Central entered the doubleheader leading second-place Pima by six games, third-place South Mountain by seven and fourth-place Arizona Western by six games in the loss column. The Vaqueros play a doubleheader at Western on Saturday and a two-game home series against South Mountain next week before closing the regular season with an April 22 home doubleheader against Eastern Arizona, two nonconference games against GateWay and a road doubleheader at Yavapai on April 29.