Ed Petruska-Pinal Central

SIGNAL PEAK – Consecutive victory No. 20 for the Central Arizona College baseball team did not come without its tense moments, even though the third-ranked Vaqueros took a 6-0 lead into the ninth inning of Saturday's game against Phoenix at McSwain Field.

Central held on for a 6-3 win, getting the final three outs after the Bears loaded the bases.

"We got the five-spot (in the fifth inning), added one (run) late and that's the reason those things are important," CAC coach Anthony Gilich said. "Things could go south on you."

The Vaqueros, who are 31-5 overall (11-1 at home) and lead the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference standings with an 18-2 mark, played without four of their regular starters and were limited to six hits. But they got another stellar performance from starter Patrick Steitz and capitalized on three errors and five wild pitches by the Bears (18-15, 7-11 ACCAC) to keep the winning streak alive.

"Any time you can find a way to win, you feel good," Gilich said. "We don't really talk about (the streak), but it's cool. We're proud of it."

Steitz (6-1) lowered his ERA to 1.37 with six shutout innings. The right-hander allowed three hits, struck out nine, walked one and hit one. Steitz began his outing by retiring eight straight – striking out seven -- before surrendering a two-out single to Issac Lizarraga in the third.

"He's been doing it all year," Gilich said. "He's been really clean, really efficient. He gets ahead of the hitters and doesn't go deep in the count."

Shortstop Luke Thiele, second baseman Marcus Harrison and outfielders Tyrese Johnson and Ashtin Webb were out of the lineup due to injury. That, however, was never a real concern for Gilich.

"We have a lot of guys who can play different positions," he said, and the fill-ins "were able to step up."

Central was denied in the first inning after loading the bases with nobody out. Left-hander Zach Zwaschka, making his first start for Phoenix, hit leadoff batter Blake Avila then walked Kooper Schulte and Jonathon Hernandez. Zwaschka wriggled out of the jam by getting a strikeout and a 1-2-3 double play when Lou Albrecht was called out at first for interference to negate a wild throw from the catcher that would have plated at least two runs.

Zwaschka, who kept the Vaqueros scoreless in his four-inning stint, got a 1-4-6-3 double play to end the fourth.

Central finally broke through in the fifth, sending eight batters to the plate. Prince DeBoskie led off with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch by reliever Tre Judd. After DJ Massey's sacrifice bunt was misplayed for a two-base error, Avila made it 2-0 when the second baseman committed an error on his RBI grounder.

Next came a bunt single by Schulte, followed by Avila scoring on a wild pitch. CAC's third and final hit of the inning was Mario Bejarano's RBI single. Albrecht's run-scoring groundout off Heitaro Havashi capped the rally.

Albrecht reached second on an error to begin the Central eighth. Fisher Pyatt's double – the lone extra-base hit for the Vaqueros – scored courtesy runner Daniel Davila to give them a seemingly comfortable 6-0 cushion.

Felix Schlede retired the Bears in order in the seventh and eighth, striking out two in the process. He departed with nobody out in the ninth after walking pinch hitter Cade Bemis, giving up Jake Willerup's RBI triple and a run-scoring single by pinch hitter Manny Morales.

Jack Seward came on to walk Cade Lacy. Seward's wild throw to second on a potential double-play grounder allowed Morales to score. Next came a walk to Chris Billings that loaded the bases with nobody out.

With the tying runs aboard, Seward struck out the next two batters. The game ended with Michael Trausch inducing Casey Wayne – the Phoenix team leader in home runs and RBIs – to ground into a fielder's choice. Second baseman Schulte fielded the ball and made the putout at second.

The save was the first of the season for Trausch. Pyatt was the only player on either team to have multiple hits, going 2 for 4.

Harrison sent the Vaqueros to a 1-0 victory over host Phoenix on Friday with a two-out RBI double in the top of the 10th inning. Starter Matt Wilkinson (6-0, 1.05 ERA) allowed three hits, struck out 10 and walked one in 7 1/3 innings. Josh Aribal (0.00 ERA in 15 1/3 innings) kept the Bears hitless for the duration, striking out six and walking one.