"A lot of teams would've rolled over," said Cicuto, whose team pulled off dramatic comebacks in the regional and super regional rounds. "These guys, I knew they wouldn't roll over."
It was an ominous start for the Vaqs, as all nine Mustangs came to the plate during a four-run top of the first inning.
Glendale starter Thomas Korn was in trouble from the onset, walking the leadoff batter and then allowing four consecutive one-out singles. A fourth hit in the stanza drove in the fourth run.
GCC had a chance to cut into the lead in the second when Spear singled with one away and Myles Neimeyer followed with a two-out single. But Matt McCallister struck out looking on an 11-pitch at-bat that ended with a controversial call. In the fourth, the Vaqueros finally broke through when Spear was singled in by John Schwer to make it 4-1.
No hits, three Korn walks and another error led to two more Delta runs in the fifth to bring the score to 6-1.
Korn finished the day having allowed six runs in five innings on five hits and four walks.
"He gave us everything he had," Cicuto said.
The Mustangs added another run in the eighth, once again without the benefit of a hit, as they finished the game with 10 hits, all singles, and six walks.
In the first game, the Vaqueros were buoyed by the left arm of starter Ryan Sherriff. Sherriff held Santa Ana scoreless over the first seven innings en route to a 13-6 Glendale victory.
"Sherriff did a great job," said second baseman Ryan Daniels, who contributed to a stellar Vaqueros offensive with three hits and four runs batted in. "That's just what he does all the time, he's the man. Seven scoreless is just another day for him."
Sherriff tossed 7 1/3 innings, allowing four runs — all in the eighth inning — five hits, walked four and struck out six.
Joining Daniels in the first-game hit parade, catcher Neimeyer had four hits, three RBI and two runs. Ellis Whitman also had a pair of hits and two runs, Schwer had two hits, two runs and an RBI, Chapjian had a pair of runs and an RBI and Chris Stroh had two runs, two RBI and two stolen bases.
Much like they did in GCC's 21-9 loss on Friday to Delta, errors played a big role in the Vaqueros' game, only it was at the expense of the eliminated Santa Ana (30-14), which committed five errors.
The miscues played a part in a quick GCC start, as it took a 1-0 lead in the first, added two in the second and then exploded for four in the third, keyed by a two-run double from Daniels. A six-run fifth essentially put the game out of reach.
"We couldn't go out like that," said Daniels of getting eliminated after two games. "We tried to just forget about [Friday], it worked.
"We kept scoring and scoring."
