Thunderducks Advance to District Championship Round

Tournament Central Page

MESQUITE, Texas – Will Bomersbach and Jouseph Gelpi both blasted two home runs, and Dallas College Richland beat Dallas College Cedar Valley, 14-5 in seven innings, in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South Central District semifinals Friday.

It was the second straight day Richland beat Cedar Valley, scoring 14 runs in both games. The win sends the 11^th-ranked Thunderducks (37-21) on to Saturday's 10 a.m. championship round. They will need to beat host and No. 2 Dallas College Eastfield (44-11) twice to win the district title after losing to the top-seeded Harvester Bees, 11-1, in the first semifinal Friday.

Bomersbach crushed a three-run shot to left in the bottom of the fifth to cap a seven-run inning, vaulting Richland ahead, 8-4. One inning later, he belted a grand slam to extend the second-seeded Thunderducks' lead to 13-5.

It was the first multi-home run game of Bomersbach's career. He hit three against Cedar Valley this season.

He went 2-for-4 with a career-best seven RBI.

Third-seeded Cedar Valley (38-21) scored the game's first run when Caden Robertson belted his nation-leading 19^th home run of the year, a solo shot to center field in the top of the first. Richland answered in its half of the inning when Gelpi led off with a solo homer of his own.

Robertson had a two-out RBI triple in the third to put Cedar Valley back in front, 2-1. Ryan Talley reached on an error, allowing Robertson to score to make it 3-1. Blaine Thomas' solo home run to left-center in the fifth gave Cedar Valley a 4-1 lead.

Gelpi tied the game with a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth. Nick Chalman's RBI single up the middle put the Thunderducks in front for the first time, 5-4. Bomerbach's three-run homer spotted Richland a four-run lead.

Cedar Valley picked up a run in the sixth on Antonio Sabala's RBI groundout, following a triple by Cooper Brewer. That made it 8-5. But the Thunderducks exploded for six more runs in their half of the inning – the big blow coming on Bomerbach's grand slam.

Gelpi went 2-for-3 with four RBI after banging his fourth and fifth homers of the season. Jadon Fratus was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Aaron Biediger and Jordan Owns both went 2-for-4. Owns drove in a run.

Robertson was 3-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI, and Ryan Talley 2-for-4 for the Suns.

Richland's Ryan Taylor got the win in relief, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, and had one strikeout in 1.2 innings. Devin Jennings pitched a scoreless seventh inning, allowing a walk, while recording a strikeout to seal the victory. Starter Nick Yates allowed six hits, three earned runs and two walks, and had four strikeouts in 4.1 innings.  

The Thunderducks won five of the eight games against the Suns this season.