AWC puts on a hitting clinic
The Arizona Western College baseball team is probably still knocking the ball around the diamond.
The Matadors took game one of a best-of-three Region I semifinal on Thursday against Central Arizona by a mercyrule win at 15-5 after seven innings. AWC had 21 hits in the game and at the rate that they were going could have had another 10 if the game went the full nine innings.
“When you can come out and take quality at bats like we did and get into hitter’s counts (it helps),” AWC coach Drew Keehn said. “It gives us a chance to take good swings. Good things happen.”
Although the team finished with 21 hits the parade around the bases didn’t start quite the way that the Matadors wanted it to. The Vaqueros (45-12) started the game fast with two home runs in the opening half inning. Liam Spence led the game off with a home run to left field and Alix Garcia look an outside ball to right field three batters later. Central Arizona led 2-0 early.
AWC (44-13) pitcher Irving Martin settled into the game after the shaky start. He struck out the side in order in the second inning and eventually earned the win. Martin (7-2) pitched six-plus innings with five earned, six hits and eight strikeouts.
“They came out aggressive and I should have been ready for that,” he said. “My command wasn’t there in the first. The ones that they hit were over the plate. Coming into the second I was able to throw and find a little bit of accuracy.”
The Mats got on the board after a home run from Justin Greene to right field in the bottom of the second, but the team was able to bust loose with a big third inning. Greene finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Yodelvy Merendez had a two-RBI single to tie the game at 3-3, and Daylan Nanny followed him in the order with an RBI single to
TORONTO — LeBron James had 43 points and 14 assists, Kevin Love added 31 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 128-110 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.
J.R. Smith scored 15 points, Jeff Green had 14 and George Hill 13 as the Cavaliers posted their eighth consecutive postseason victory over the Raptors and halted Toronto’s four-game winning streak in Game 2s. The Raptors entered 6-1 all-time when playing Game 2 at home.
James had eight rebounds, narrowly missing his second straight tripledouble. He connected on 19 of 28 attempts, while Love shot 11 for 21.
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points and Kyle Lowry had 21 for the Raptors. Toronto won a team-record 59 games and finished as the topseeded team in the Eastern Conference this season, but was easily shoved one step closer to a third straight postseason exit at the hands of James and the Cavs.
Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Fred VanVleet scored 14 points, but the Raptors lost back-to-back home games for the first time all season.
Toronto matched Houston by going 34-7 at home in the regular season, and went 3-0 at home against Washington in round one. The Raptors had not lost consecutive home games since dropping Games 3 and 4 of the second round to Cleveland last May.
The series shifts to Ohio for Game 3 on Saturday night. Toronto has gone 0-5 at Cleveland over the past two postseasons, losing by an average margin of 24.2 points per game.
The Cavaliers are 21-3 at home against Eastern Conference opponents in the playoffs over the past four years.
The Raptors, who let a 10-point lead slip away in a 113-112 overtime loss in Game 1, were up 54-45 midway through the second quarter but saw their lead dwindle to 63-61 at halftime.
Cleveland took control as Smith scored six points in an 18-5 spurt to begin the third quarter. The Cavs outscored the Raptors 37-24 in the third to take an 11-point edge into the fourth, and Toronto didn’t challenge again.
Lowry made all four of his field goal attempts in the first and scored 10 points as Toronto led 29-26. Love scored 10 points for Cleveland in the first, while James had just four points and two shots in the opening quarter.
The Raptors connected on 13 of 18 attempts in the second quarter, overcoming 12 points by James.
Toronto coach Dwane Casey was called for a technical foul for arguing after Lowry was called for a foul on a driving James late in the second. Love made the technical free throw but James missed both of his attempts.
James was on target in Cleveland’s game-changing third quarter, connecting on seven of 10 attempts and scoring 15 points. Love added nine as the Cavs took a 98-87 lead to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: The 24 combined points by James and Love in the third matched Toronto’s total for the quarter . ... The Cavaliers are 18-1 in playoff series when they win Game 1.