Coronado starts stretch run with baseball win over Foothill

Coronado’s baseball team started its playoff dress rehearsal Tuesday.

And if the results are any indication, the Cougars are ready for the postseason.

Coronado smacked 16 hits and rolled to a 12-2, six-inning win over visiting Foothill, avenging a 2-1 loss to the Falcons earlier in the season.

“It’s good to get this game, because last time they beat us,” senior first baseman Cristian Herrera said. “But we weren’t playing how we usually do. Today we played how we should, and you can see from the score we played well.”

Four of Coronado’s final five games of the regular season are against teams in the top six in the Sunrise League starting with the fifth-place Falcons. The Cougars (17-8, 12-4 Sunrise League) still have games remaining against Basic, Green Valley and Liberty.

“All playoff-type atmospheres,” Coronado coach Rich Santigate said. “That’s what it is: the playoffs before the playoffs.”

Herrera got the Cougars started with a two-run double in the first inning and added an RBI double as part of a five-run fourth that gave Coronado an 8-2 lead.

Herrera finished 2-for-4, and Boston Mabeus was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Joey Calvert, Kyle Hall and Braeden Ewing each had two hits for the Cougars.

“It’s a good way to go into the playoffs,” Herrera said of the tough late-season schedule. “You don’t want to go into the playoffs playing mediocre teams. You want to go into the playoffs playing good teams just so you’re ready. Because playoffs is different. It’s a different atmosphere and everything.”

Kelton Lachelt went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run for the Falcons (14-10, 9-7).

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow @DamonSeiters on Twitter.