PREP BASEBALL
Carlsbad stuns La Cueva behind ace pitching and a seven-run seventh inning
Sophomore pitcher Wade Cozart struck out 10 batters as the sixth-seeded Cavemen rolled to a 10-2 victory over the third-seeded Bears.
Carlsbad鈥檚 Wade Cozart was the story of the game before the sixth-seeded Cavemen removed all drama from the proceedings with a seven-run seventh en route to a 10-2 win over No. 3 La Cueva.
Cozart, a sophomore hurler, outdueled Bears ace Dylan Blomker, pitching 6 2/3 innings while allowing two runs and striking out 10. Meanwhile, the LSU-bound Blomker was pulled in the fifth inning after allowing back-to-back doubles. The La Cueva senior gave up six hits and three runs through four innings while striking out nine.
鈥淭hat guy is freaking the real deal,鈥� Carlsbad coach Mike McGaha said of Cozart. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be special.鈥�
The Cavemen (19-10) struck first with an RBI single by Eloy Lopez in the second inning. The fifth inning, which was Blomker鈥檚 last, included RBIs from Cozart and Brock Wright as Carlsbad took a 3-0 lead.
La Cueva (25-4) stranded runners in four of the first five innings, but Cozart was able to work around the trouble, including an escape with runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the fifth.
鈥淚 was feeling great,鈥� Cozart said. 鈥淚 was just trying to help my team out the best way I can, and I was just trying to get that W.鈥�
Any hopes of a Bears rally unraveled in the top of the seventh, when the Cavemen jumped on Luke Feist and Marcelo Gabaldon for seven runs to put the game on ice. The two La Cueva pitchers combined to walk six batters during the disastrous frame. Getting Blomker out of the game certainly helped Carlsbad鈥檚 cause.
鈥淲e made (Blomker) throw pitches and get behind in counts, and he had to throw some pitches that we could hit,鈥� McGaha said. 鈥淎nd we had a couple two-out RBIs and it separated us in the game and then we chased him. And at that point, I was really confident in my guy.鈥�
