Skyline College baseball clinches a playoff berth

With one game to go in the California Community College regular season, Skyline can clinch the conference championship Thursday with either a win at Chabot (12-7, 24-13), or a loss by second-place West Valley against College of San Mateo.

“To be honest, the vibe after the game was — we’ve got one more,” Skyline freshman Cam Grant said.

Grant led the power show as the right-handed hitting slugger highlighted a six-run fourth with a three-run home run. The freshman stepped to the plate amid a 2-1 lead — just after Dominic Meza trotted home with the go-ahead run on balk by Chabot pitcher Bryce Clarke — and connected for his third homer of the year, and his first since Feb. 4, with a shot over the right-center field wall.

“Knowing my struggles the last couple games, I was very excited,” Grant said. “Running around the bases, it was a very phenomenal feeling. Touching home plate, I kind of blacked out a little bit.”

Meza added a solo home run in the seventh inning. Skyline freshman Max Coupe was 3 for 4 with a two-run triple in the eighth, and came all the around to score on the play thanks to an error on the relay throw.

The Trojans continue to show off considerable depth, with infielder Trey Zahursky now getting regular playing time at second base in the wake of an injury to freshman infielder Jack Mettam at the end of March. Grant, despite hitting .350 on the season, has gotten just two starts over the past six games.

“The thing we, as a team, have bought in to what we have tried to build at Skyline,” Grant said. “Yeah, some guys might not play every day and not get the playing time that they might want, but I think we have bought in to the fact that we’re trying to win a championship.”

The depth has caused first-year manager Tony Brunicardi some stress over getting his talented hitters at-bats. Depth is traditionally seen as a good problem to have, and Brunicardi’s Trojans have alleviated their skipper’s concerns by hitting .311 as a team, ranking No. 8 in Northern California.

“That could kind of pull a lot of teams apart and these guys have just pushed their egos aside and have just put it toward one collective goal,” Brunicardi said.

For as good as the Trojans have hit, though, the pitching has been just as good — if not better.

Skyline is well on its way to leading the state with a staff ERA. The Trojans have dominated to the tune of a 2.56 ERA as a team. Lassen College, ranking second among CCC schools, owns a 3.37 ERA.

Freshman right-hander Conor Hourigan has fronted the rotation all season. The recent Sacramento State commit Tuesday earned his ninth win, tops in the Coast North, allowing two runs on four hits through seven innings of work.

“He’s been our go-to guy,” Brunicardi said. “We’re blessed. We have him and [freshman Rowan Barnes] on the mound. But Conor’s been our leader on the mound.”

Both of Skyline’s top freshman arms are headed to four-year programs next season. Barnes is committed to transfer to UC Davis. Coupe also committed to UC Davis earlier this week.

Hourigan fell behind early when, in the fourth inning, Chabot cleanup hitter Sam Gillam doubled home the first run of the day, giving the Gladiators a 1-0 lead.

But in the bottom of the inning, the Trojans sent 12 batters to the plate. Coupe sparked the rally with a one-out walk. Meza then got hit by a pitch and Michael Sarhatt followed with an RBI single to tie it 1-1. After a walk to Zahursky, Meza scored on a balk. Then, after the Grant three-run homer, the Trojans continued adding on, something of a trend for this lineup after momentous home run swings, scoring once more in the inning.

“Usually home runs are kind of rally killers but for some reason with our group hitting is just contagious,” Brunicardi said. “They kind of feed off each other. They’re kind of a close group … and once they see one guy do it, they all kind of do it. And it’s just contagious.”

With two outs, Jesse Pierce, Jeremy Keller, Jace Jeremiah and Coupe strung together four straight singles. Jeremiah’s was an RBI knock, upping the lead to 6-1.

Gillam homered off Hourigan in the sixth. The Gladiators went on to score two runs in eighth against Skyline reliever Matt Bergan before freshman right-hander Hayden Friedland pitched through two singles to navigate a scoreless ninth.

The Trojans travel to Hayward for Thursday’s regular-season finale. First pitch at Chabot is slated for 2:30 p.m.