Eight in a row for Cats

The Colusa Cats swept a pair of doubleheaders over the weekend to give them eight straight wins and put their record at 14-4 on the year.

The Cats edged Red Bluff 9-1 and 5-3 on Saturday at Colusa and then knocked off the Chico Suns 12-5 and 6-5 in Colusa on Sunday.

In the first game on Saturday, Colusa went scoreless until the fifth inning when it pushed five runs across. The Cats then added four more in the sixth to account for the final score.

Jeremy Hubbard and Brandon Rader both walked in the fifth with Hubbard scoring on Ottie Harris’ ground ball. Hayden Meyers followed with a two-run single. After a walk to Tyler Wells, Shawn Rawlin was hit by a pitch and Cody Hansen grounded out to drive in two more runs.

In the sixth, Rader led off with a single, Harris walked and Meyers and Wells hit back-to-back singles to drive in three runs. Wells scored the fourth run of the inning on a groundball out.

Steven Perry was 2-for-4 while Rader and Meyers were both 2-for-3 to lead Colusa’s 8-hit attack.

Rader went the distance and got the win. He gave up just one run on seven hits with seven strikeouts.

In the second game, Jake Driver started on the mound and threw six shutout innings before finally giving up three runs in the seventh. Driver faced just two batters over the minimum through the first six frames, giving up a double in the first inning and a double in the sixth. He also had six strikeouts and got strong defensive play from shortstop Jeremy Hubbard.

In the seventh, Driver gave up three runs on four hits. Red Bluff had the tying run on base, but Meyers scooped up a grounder at first base to end the game.

Colusa managed a single run in the first inning and then rallied for four in the sixth to build a 5-0 lead.

Hubbard singled in the first inning and went to third on Rader’s double. Meyers brought Hubbard home with a sacrifice fly to left field.

In the sixth inning, Rader was hit by a pitch and scored on Meyers’ double. One out later, Wells singled home Meyers. Wells and Rawlin, who had walked, both scored on a throwing error on Steven Perry’s ground ball to shortstop.

Wells was 2-for-3 to lead the offense. Swearinger joined Rader and Meyers with a double for the team’s best hits.

On Sunday against the Chico Suns, Colusa needed a run in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 6-5 win. Wells singled to lead off the seventh and scored on Steven Perry’s single to end the game.

Colusa built an early lead with two runs in the second inning and two more in the third. Wells and Hubbard both singled in the second inning and scored on Cody Hansen’s basehit.

In the third, James Bowen doubled and Meyers had an RBI single. Meyers later scored on a Hubbard basehit.

Meyers also scored in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Hubbard to put Colusa ahead 5-1.

Chico rallied in the sixth inning with three runs to make the score 5-4. The Suns added a single run in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5.

Josh Embree started on the mound and went the first six and a third innings before giving way to Memo Rodriguez for the final two outs. Rodriguez collected the win despite pitching to just three batters. Embree struck out nine batters and gave up five runs on seven hits.

Wells and Hubbard each had two hits in the win.

The second game was less of a challenge as Colusa scored three runs in the first, two in the second, two in the fifth and five in the sixth to slowly pull away.

Hubbard started on the mound and went four innings for the win. He gave up four runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Bowen pitched one inning while Wells pitched the final frame with two strikeouts and one earned run.

Rader had a huge game at the plate for Colusa, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI. He knocked in a single run in the second inning with a triple and brought home two runs in the sixth with a double.

Perry was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with three runs scored while Wells was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Dylan DeWit also had a single and an RBI.