Cats take second at Shasta Lake event

The Colusa Cats advanced to the championship game of the Shasta Lake Bass American Legion tournament over the weekend, but fell just short of capturing the title, falling to Chico Suns Red 10-6 on Saturday.

Colusa won its first four games, including an impressive win over Chico Blue, a team that had taken a doubleheader from the Cats early in the season. The win marked the 16th straight win of the season for the Cats since losing to Chico Blue.

With the loss to Chico Red, Colusa is 22-5 on the season.

In the final against Chico Red, the Cats held a 6-4 lead in the third inning, but Chico rallied for four runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to claim the victory.

Hayden Meyers got the rally started for Colusa in the second when he blasted a two-run homer that cut Chico’s early lead to 4-2.

In the third, Brandon Rader belted a two-run double and both Steven Perry and Rader scored on groundouts to put Colusa ahead 6-4.

The offense was unable to get much going the rest of the way. A single by Darren Swearinger off the wall in right field, an infield single by Meyers and a basehit by Rader in the seventh were all the Cats could muster over the final four frames.

Perry took the loss in relief of Rader, who started and went the first two innings. Perry pitched two scoreless frames before getting into trouble in the fifth.

Against Chico Blue in the semifinals, Colusa jumped out to the early lead and held onto it throughout the game for a 6-5 win.

James Bowen reached base on an error and scored on Perry’s basehit in the first inning for a 1-0 advantage.

In the second, Meyers singled and Cody Hansen walked. An error allowed both to come home and give Colusa a 3-0 lead.

Chico scored two in the bottom of the second, but Colusa added a run in the third. Perry was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Rader doubled him home for a 4-2 lead.

After Chico made it 4-3 with a run in the fourth, Rader singled and scored on Tyler Wells’ sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. Perry scored the final run in the top of the seventh when he beat out a bunt and scored on a double play ball that only produced one out.

The extra run proved important as Chico Blue rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a home run off of starter Josh Embree.

Perry entered the game and got the final two outs, one on a diving catch in right field by Wells.

Rader, Perry and Sean Rawlin each had two hits in the game.

Colusa opened the tournament with a 10-5 win over the Redding Sidewinders. Rader was 3-for-4 with four RBI, a double and a triple while Jake Driver had a two-run single. Josh Embree added a double and Brian Wunsch was 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

Wells pitched five innings to get the win.

Colusa then edged the Susanville Renegades 6-3 with Rader again going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a double. Jeremy Hubbard went the first five innings for the victory.

The Cats thumped the Red Bluff Toros 10-0 in their final game in pool play. Jake Driver pitched all five innings of the shortened game and gave up just two hits while striking out six and walking none.

Rawlin was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI while Swearinger was 3-for-3 with an RBI. James Bowen added two hits, including a double.

The rest of the Cats games this season are on the road. Colusa played two games at Chico Red on Tuesday and will play a twinbill at Corning against Westside on Friday.