Shamrock baseball collapses against Bourgade

Yuma Catholic's baseball team struck out the side and then took a 4-1 lead in the second inning Tuesday against Bourgade Catholic.

Unfortunately for the Shamrocks, the game didn't end there.

Bourgade, unbeaten in the 2A West Region, went on to score the next 20 runs over the final three innings and rode out of Yuma with a 21-5 victory in what was to be a showdown between the region's top two teams.

The Golden Eagles (12-7 overall, 7-0 2A West), who edged YC 4-2 earlier this season, smacked 17 hits against four different Shamrock pitchers and put the game on ice with an 11-run rally in the fifth inning that enforced the mercy rule.

"I'm as surprised as I can be about the result of this game," Bourgade coach Greg Henke said. "I thought it would be another close game and a tough win to get coming down here. I'm just really pleased with the way our guys hit the ball."

For YC coach Tom Kandler, Tuesday's disappointment reached epic proportions, especially when Kandler considers this Shamrock team the most physically gifted squad he's ever coached.

"This is the most embarrassed I've ever been in my life," he said. "I'm trying to sit here and come up with a time that I've been more embarrassed - not just in baseball, but in my life."

Kandler had reason to take pride early on as YC (15-8, 6-2) jumped out quickly, going up 2-1 in the first on Adrian Gutierrez' RBI single that drove home Jayson Koppinger and Matt Inman.

After starter Bobby Rodriguez mowed down the Bourgade side with three strikeouts in the top of the second, the Shamrocks tacked on another pair of runs on RBIs from Eric Garcia and Inman.

Then the ’Rocks went tumbling. Bourgade lefty starter Carlos Martinez set down the side in order in the third and fourth before Koppinger tacked on one last run in the fifth, scoring on a Gutierrez sacrifice fly.

"This is not the first time we've started with two great innings," said Kandler, whose team came in on an eight-game winning streak. "Usually with two great innings we're up 16-0, but that's not going to happen against (Bourgade). We played two great innings and then were done and absolutely flat-out quit."

The Golden Eagles forced Rodriguez off the mound with five runs in the third and relievers Josh Evans, Jared Peach and Junior Evans didn't fare much better against a potent Bourgade offense.