Vince Maiocco begins his eighth season as the Cougars head baseball coach. Maiocco came to Taft College in 2001 and served as an assistant coach until 2004. Before coming to Taft College; he coached at Gavilan College in 2001, Delano High School in 2000, and Porterville College in 1999. Maiocco spent the most of his coaching career at College of the Siskiyous from 1988-1998.
The Cougar baseball program has a rich history of developing players for the professional and 4-year collegiate level of baseball. The vast majority of Taft College's graduating sophomores have went on to play at the 4-year collegiate and professional level. It is the coaching staff's obligation to develop players to play at the 4-year collegiate or professional level.
The philosophy of Taft College Baseball is: "Take the academic aspect of college serious, maintain an image on and off the field that sheds a positive light on Taft College, and work hard while practicing and playing the game of baseball!"
Over the last three seasons the Cougars have enjoyed their most successful run at TC since 1985-87. With consecutive winning seasons in 2009, 2010 and 2011; the first at Taft College since the 1985-87 baseball seasons. With a 22-14 record last year, the Cougars finished the 2011 season ranked as the #17th ranked team in NorCal.
In the final game of the LA Harbor series, freshman Bryant took the mound for the Cougars. Bryant went 3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and adding 3 strikeouts. Matha, Gunderson, and B. Smith would throw in relief for the Cougars. The Cougars scored 2 runs on 4 hits and lost a tough one 2-8.
In the first game of the LA Harbor series, the Cougars sent freshman Lewallen to the mound. Lewallen went 4 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits and 1 strikeout. Uran, Trinidad, and Skinner would lead the way for the Cougars offensively. Matha threw very well in relief going 2 innings and allowing no runs on only 2 hits, giving him the win. The final score was 12-7 in favor of the Cougars.
In the first game of the West Hills series, the Cougars sent freshman Bruce Lewallen to the mound. Lewallen threw very well, going 5 innings of work giving up 2 runs on only 3 hits, which proved to be enough to get the win. Matha, Gunderson, Hickle, and Bryant also pitched for the Cougars. Belaustegui, Packer, and F. Smith provided the offense for the Cougars. The final score left the good guys on top 6-4. Your Cougars will take on West Hills again on Thursday.
In the final game of the series, the Cougars sent freshman Cole Bryant to the mound. Bryant went 3 innings of work, giving up 1 run on 1 hit but walked 5. Pitch count would end the day early for Bryant. The Cougars were left to piece it together with Gunderson, Hickle, Matha, and B. Smith. Forrest Smith and Matt Packer both went yard on the day and helped the Cougars edge Porterville 10-6. Your Cougars will take on West Hills on Tuesday at home at 2 pm.
The Cougars sent Sophomore Corey Gilligan to the mound in hopes of evening up the series against Porterville College. Gilligan threw very well, going 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 7 hits and adding 5 strikeouts. The Cougars rallied late with the majority of the offense coming from Skinner, Huggins, Packer, and Uran. With the momentum on their side and the lead late in the game, the Cougars gave the ball to freshman PJ Matha. Matha came in and shut the door, going 3 innings and only allowing 1 hit to earn the save for the Cougars. The final score left the good guys on top 6-5. The Cougars will take on Porterville for the final game of the series on Saturday at home.
In the first game of the series, the Cougars sent freshman Bruce Lewallen to the mound to face Porterville College. The righty went 3 innings, giving up 4 earned runs on 4 hits and 1 strikeout. Matha and B. Smith threw well in relief for the Cougars, combining for 4 strikeouts and 0 earned runs. F. Smith and Skinner each added doubles for the Cougars but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to beat Porterville. Your Cougars will take on Porterville again on Thursday.
In the final game of the series, the Cougars sent sophomore southpaw Corey Gilligan to the mound to face. Gilligan allowed 3 earned runs on 12 hits through 5 innings of work. Bryant and Lewallen also pitched for the Cougars. Belaustegui, Arbaut, and Packer provided the offense for the Cougars. The Cougars fell just short again to Reedley 6-7. The Cougars will open up a 3 game series with Porterville starting on Tuesday at 2 pm.
The Cougars pieced it together in the second game of the series, sending out Koenen, Matha, and Gunderson to face Reedley. Uran, Belaustegui, Smith, and Packer provided the offense for the Cougars but it proved not to be enough to beat Reedley. The final score was 5-7 in favor of Reedley College.
In the first game of the series against Reedley College, the Cougars sent freshman Bruce Lewallen to the mound. Lewallen went 6 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 9 hits. Cole Bryant came in relief for the Cougars going 2 innings, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 4. Bryant would go on to receive the win for the Cougars. The bats really came alive for the good guys in this one. Pierce Belaustegui added a huge homerun for the Cougars to tie the game up. Skinner, Smith, and Trinidad also had RBI’s for the Cougars. The final score was 5-4 in favor of the Cougars.
In the third and final game of the series, the Cougars sent sophomore lefty Corey Gilligan to the mound. Gilligan went 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and had 3 strikeouts. Matha, Gunderson, and Bryant would also pitch for the Cougars. Arbaut and Trinidad both had multi-hit games but it wasn’t enough for Cougars to bring home a win. The Cougars will open up a 3 game series in Reedley on Tuesday.
In the second game of the series, the Cougars sent freshman right hander Scott Koenen to the mound to face Fresno City College. Koenen went 3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. Bryant and Gunderson would also pitch for the Cougars. Forrest Smith went 2 for 4 with a double and a homerun. Chase Skinner also added two hits but it proved to be not enough to beat Fresno, as the Rams top the Cougars 6-3.
In the first game of the series, the Cougars sent freshman right-hander Bruce Lewallen to the mound to face Fresno City College. Lewallen went 5 innings and gave up 8 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks. The Cougars brought their sticks but played bad defense and struggled on the bump. The final score was 5-14 in favor of Fresno. The Cougars will face Fresno again on Thursday at home.
In the third and final game of the series, the Cougars had to string a few pitchers together after an early injury took out their starter in the first inning. Matha, Bryant, Gunderson, Koenen, Gilligan all came out of the bullpen for the Cougars. Gilligan and Trinidad each had two hits to add to the Cougars 7 hits on the day. This proved not to be enough to beat Merced as the Cougars went on to lose 6-12.
In the second game of the series, the Cougars sent freshman Bruce Lewallen to the mound against Merced College. Lewallen threw well, but a high pitch count restricted him to only four innings of work. In those four innings Lewallen only allowed 1 run on 5 hits and 3 strike outs. Skinner, Packer, and Trinidad provided the only 3 hits for the Cougars as they went on to lose to Merced 5-1.
In the first game of the series against Merced College, the Cougars sent lefty Gilligan to the mound in hopes of winning their first conference game of the young season. The sophomore pitched well, going 6 innings and only giving up only 3 runs on 7 hits. The Cougars then handed the ball to freshman Gunderson, who would end up getting the win. Belaustegui hit a go ahead 3 run homerun in the bottom of the eighth to help the Cougars beat Merced 6-5.
In the final game of the weekend, the Cougars sent their ace (Sanchez) to the mound with high hopes that they will be able to return home perfect with 3 important rode wins. It was a dog fight to the end, but in the 7th inning, things started to unravel a bit for the Cougars and our boys weren’t able to answer back and lost a tough one to Monterey College 7-1. The Cougars will start conference on Tuesday at Merced College.
The second game of the weekend against Lassen College was a totally different story. The Cougars only failed to score in two innings of the entire game. Anthony Uran was perfect on the day, going 4 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. Forrest Smith also added a homerun to support freshman starter Bruce Lewallen who threw a great game, going 6.2 innings while allowing just 1 run on 5 hits. The final game of the weekend will be played later in the day against Monterey.
In the first game of the weekend, the Cougars sent sophomore Gilligan to the mound to face Lassen College. Gilligan had one of his best outings of the young season throwing 9 innings and only allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. This although, wasn’t enough to take down Lassen in just 9 innings. The Cougars had to fight 5 more innings to finally get the victory over Lassen College. Cole Bryant threw 4 innings of relief work, giving up only 1 hit and striking out 6. Arbaut, Belaustegui, and Uran each had two hits to help the Cougars edge Lassen 6-5.
In the third game of the weekend the Cougars sent their ace, Allan Sanchez, to the bump to face Barstow Junior College. Once again Sanchez proved himself worthy of being the ace of the Cougars’ staff, throwing a two hit shut-out against a relatively strong offensive team. Chase Skinner led the Cougars offensively with several hits including an RBI double. The final score of the game was 8-0 in favor of the Cougars. The Cougars will be traveling to Monterey Peninsula for a three game series starting this Friday, Feb. 17.
In the second game of the series, the Cougars faced the College of Siskiyous for the second and final time of the weekend. The Cougars fell behind early in the game but quickly answered back with a couple of doubles coming from Chase Skinner and Anthony Uran. Forrest Smith also added a homerun for the Cougars but it wasn’t enough to beat Siskiyous, as the Cougars lost a close one 6-7.
In the first game of the weekend the Cougars sent sophomore southpaw, Corey Gilligan, to the mound to face the College of Siskiyous. Gilligan returned to his old ways, going right at hitters and holding Siskiyous to only six hits in seven innings. The lefty only gave up one run and struck out five. Chase Skinner and Forrest Smith led the way for the Cougars on offense, adding three hits each to the teams’ twelve hits. The Cougars took the first of two against Siskiyous 9-5.
Taft College vs Feather River College (DH) L 7-2/ L3-4
Box Scores
Game 12
by Scott Koenen
February 3, 2012
The cougars opened up a three game series against Feather River on Friday with a double header. The cougars strapped up confident with their ace (Allan Sanchez) on the bump against one of the top lineups in California. Sanchez threw a great game, going six innings with nine strikeouts and only two earned runs. Unfortunately for the cougars the only offense came in the first inning when Sean Arbaut drove in a run with an RBI single up the middle. The Cougars left everything on the field but unfortunately fell short, losing to Feather River 7-2.
The second game of the double header against Feather River looked a lot more promising for the Cougars when Clem Ferrer hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the first to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead. The Cougars struggled to manufacture runs and found themselves with their backs against the wall down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth. The Cougars rallied to score two runs in the ninth with clutch hits coming from Scott Koenen, Anthony Uran, and Jay Huggins but fell just short losing 4-3. The Cougars will wrap up their 3 game set with Feather River tomorrow at 1pm.
Taft College vs Feather River College L 6-7, in 10 innings
The final game of the three game series with Feather River looked promising for the Cougars in the first 4 innings. The bats really started to come alive in the first half of the game, however, the Cougars had a rough 5th inning with a handful of walks and an ejection. With the score 6-2 in favor of Feather River, the hope for the Cougars to come back looked very slim. The Cougars didn’t give up scoring four runs to tie the game and getting some phenomenal pitching out of the bullpen by P.J Matha to bring the game to extra innings. Unfortunately for the Cougars, Feather River scored a run in the top of the tenth inning to make the score 7-6. The Cougars couldn’t answer back and lost another heart breaker at home
Head
Coach: Vince Maiocco
Assistant
Coaches: Jeremy Wedel, Chase Blackwood, Chris Wedel
Athletic Trainer, Bruce Ferguson
Interim Superintendent/President: Dr. Richard Giese
Vice President of Student
Services: Brock McMurray
