Freshmen Trio of Perez, Harmonay and Maiden Lead Hancock Baseball to 15-5 Win over No. 2 Reedley

Quinntin Perez drove in five runs and Josh Harmonay drove in four, both career highs, to lead the Allan Hancock College baseball team to a 15-5 win over Reedley, the No. 2 team in the Northern California Region, in its final non-conference game Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs, who went 3-1 this week, improved to 7-10 overall. Reedley dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 12-4 overall. 

Six Bulldogs had two or more hits to lead Hancock's 17-hit attack. Sophomore Kyle von Tillow and Wyatt Coll, as well as Perez had three hits apiece. Harmonay, freshmen Dylan Maiden and Brian Dowell had two hits each in the victory. Harmonay and Perez had two doubles each. Maiden went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI and earned the win on the mound with four innings of relief. 

Reedley scored the first run of the game in the first inning against Hancock starting pitcher Wyatt Standley. The Bulldogs responded with a seven-run second inning.  Coll and Dowell singled with one out to start the rally. von Tillow followed with a RBI-single to score Coll to tie it 1-1. After catcher Nash Ackerman was hit by a pitch, Harmonay stepped up and stroked a two-run double. The rally continued when Perez laced a two-run single and freshman Dylan Maiden hit a RBI-single to left field to give Hancock a 7-1 lead.

Reedley got single runs back in the third and sixth innings to make it a 7-3 game.  The Bulldogs regained control in the sixth when Harmonay hit a two-run double to plate Coll and von Tillow to make it 9-3. Perez also delivered a two-run double to drive in Ackerman and Harmonay to give Hancock an 11-3 advantage. Ackerman added a RBI-single to center field in the seventh to extend the lead to 12-3. 

After the Tigers scored twice in the top of the eighth, Hancock put the game away with three in the bottom half. Perez hit a RBI-double to plate Daniel Curiel, while Maiden and Coll delivered RBI-singles.

Wyatt Standley started on the mound for Hancock. He allowed one run and one hit in two innings of work. He walked four and struck out two and did not factor in the decision. Maiden took over on the mount in the third and threw four solid innings to earn the win and improve to 2-0. The Cabrillo High School graduate scattered five hits, one walk and two runs to go with three strikeouts. 

Phillip Martin allowed two runs in two innings of relief. The freshman struck out two. Walker Armstrong threw a scoreless ninth to preserve the win.

Hancock improved to 6-2 at home. The Bulldogs played three home games this week and outscored their opponents 51-11 in the three victories. Hancock will open Western State Conference play on Tuesday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at Santa Barbara City College. The Bulldogs will host the Vaqueros on Thursday, March 9, at 2 p.m. Santa Barbara enters conference play 9-7 overall and winners of five straight games.