Cuesta’s Mayo Stymies Pierce in 5-0 Victory

Paul Mayo, Cuesta College’s ace pitcher, is an aspiring doctor, and Saturday he operated on Pierce.

Mayo needed only 118 pitches to throw a four-hitter in Cuesta’s 5-0 Western State Conference victory at Pierce.

In short, Mayo put on a clinic.

“Hey, that was the best performance against us this year,” Pierce co-Coach Bob Lofrano said. “We ran into a good pitcher. . . . He’s probably the best pitcher in the conference.”

Pierce (16-12, 9-6 in WSC play) entered the game with a five-game conference winning streak and was bidding to close the gap on first-place Cuesta (24-11, 11-3). But Pierce now trails Cuesta by three in the loss column and has only five conference games remaining.

“I don’t like those odds,” Lofrano said.

Mayo (8-0) was not overpowering, but he was dominant. Using a snapping curve and low fastball, he struck out only five, none in the final four innings. But he recorded 14 outs on ground balls, many on feeble bouncers.

“We weren’t getting good cuts because of the way he was mixing speeds on his pitches,” Lofrano said. “We didn’t get clutch hits, but we didn’t have many opportunities.”

Cuesta scored a run in the third off starter Danny Rodriguez (1-3) and added another in the sixth when Epi Lopez’s high fly ball sneaked over the left-field fence just inside the foul pole for a solo home run. Cuesta added single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

Joe Arnold opened the Pierce sixth with a double, but Cuesta shortstop Josh Simmons made a leaping catch of Erik Martinez’s line drive and Mayo retired the next two batters. Pierce threatened again in the seventh when it loaded the bases with two out, but Arnold grounded out to end the inning.

Mayo retired the final seven batters he faced.